Fate Coda Tale
by eruadanindilwen
Summary: Several years have passed since the end of the Fifth Grail War. Shiro and Rin is pulled into a plan to end the Grail War once and for all. Post UBW (game and Ufotable anime verse). Spoilers. Special appearances for some characters, cameos for other characters, OCs included.
1. Prologue: Chapter -2

**PROLOGUE**

 **Chapter -2**

They lived their days in relative peace. It may be a far cry from the peace of common folk, but for magi, one can never ask for too much.

Located near the river Thames, is the British Museum. A timeless masterpiece of British architecture serving the purpose of housing relics and pieces of history in a showcase of history, culture, and the arts. At least, according to common folk. To a certain group of people called magi however, therein lies a secret far older than the foundations of the building.

The Clock Tower.

Many generations of magi have converged to this place to enhance their knowledge of magecraft and to pass their craft on to the next generation. Centuries of arcane knowledge is pursued and refined here away from the prying eyes of the world as we know it.

One such individual continues her pursuit of her family craft. Having graduated with first class honours five years before, Tohsaka Rin spent those years further refining her family craft and expanding her Magic Crest. Rin has established herself as one of the top Magi of the Mage's Association, and to some degree. Many have acknowledged her as a once-in-a-generation magus, a prodigy come of age, and a maven, among many other superlatives tossed around by students and lecturers alike.

Not all things said about Rin were nice things, however.

"I'm heading out, Tohsaka" is a line Rin hears every so often. The man she loves is also the man usually reviled at the Mage's Association.

"Calling me 'Tohsaka' again? Haven't we been married for five years already, Shiro?" Rin says, stopping Shiro dead in his tracks.

"Well, not according to the Association, with all that crap about two family heads not being able to marry and all that," Shiro mumbled

"That's too bad for them. Besides, why do you even care less about what they say?"

"Nah, it's not that.. never mind." Shiro continues to mumble. "Anyway, I have to head out now."

Before Shiro could leave, Rin swiftly turns him around, tiptoeing to give him a quick kiss. "Be careful out there, Shiro. We'll be waiting for you" Rin says.

Shiro smiles. "See you later, Rin." His reassuring tone never fails to redden Rin's face. "Watch over the children while I'm away."

"Of course I will."

With that, Emiya Shiro leaves for his "job". The Mage's Association, despite officially not recognising him as a magus due to Shiro's rejection of their offer to join the Clock Tower, continues to work for the Association as a Freelancer, taking on certain tasks that the Association needs done under wraps. Years of relentless application of his craft is now evident in his ability to Project weapons with ease, and as much as the Association considers it taboo, the continued improvement of his ability to deploy and use his Reality Marble. That, along with him finally coming to grasps with the potential application of his rudimentary knowledge in Reinforcement, made him into a person who's craft sets him apart from the vast majority of magi belonging to the Association, and one with a convenient set of skills to make use of, as much as they would hate to admit it.

"Mama, did Papa leave without saying goodbye to us?"

Rin wheeled around and picked up the little girl who was tugging at her shirt. "Papa had to leave before you and Kenji _onii-chan_ got home from school today, Akari." Rin told the girl. "He won't be gone for long this time."

"When Papa comes home, can he play with _onii-chan_ and I?" Akari asked.

"Of course he can!" Exclaimed Rin. "He will definitely play with you and _onii-chan_. Come now, time for the both of you to practice your magecraft."

* * *

When one looks at the expression on Emiya Shiro's face, there is a very high chance that they would notice he is living his dream. If one were to ask Shiro if he was indeed living his dream, the chance of one getting a positive reply would be 100%.

Shortly after turning down the offer to join the Mage's Association after two years of study, he was stopped from attending classes. Well, not officially. Someone high up in the Clock Tower took notice of his talents and tutored him privately, albeit harshly. That, if one were to scrutinise Emiya Shiro's growth in the field of magecraft, would have been the catalyst that spurred the full understanding of his sparse skillset. A full year of his training passed, and coinciding with Tohsaka Rin's graduation and employment with the Clock Tower, Shiro married her in private and the two set out to travel the world, taking on work for the Association until the birth of their children.

Now, work for Shiro usually meant travelling to places where he could devote his energy to helping others, and at times, saving people from any form of injustice. At other times, he takes up bounty offers from The Association to either disable, capture, or kill magi who have violated the strict rules of a magi, or worse, those with Sealing Designations. For Shiro, if taking down a rogue magus means saving innocent lives, he cannot turn away from such jobs.

Tonight however, was one of those nights. He still had some ways to go in order to be stronger and faster. "I need to work on Reinforcing my body after this," Shiro thought to himself as he picked up a keepsake of his target to serve as proof of his kill. This should do more than to bolster his family's finances for many months ahead. It didn't really matter, as Rin already earns a very respectable amount of money every month thanks to the Tohsaka magical patents passed down from previous generations, on top of the magical patents that Rin developed and secured through her own effort. Any extra he earns is a luxury for his family, even if he is reviled by magi at the Association for his using of magecraft to earn a profit.

"Emiya Shiro."

"Huh?" Shiro turns his head to look at the figure standing in a darkened corner who called out to him.

"I see that you have already taken this rogue magus out. Well done, for someone so bloody inept at magecraft." The figure stepped out from the darkened corner revealing a tall man, his long locks of hair giving his identity away to Shiro.

"Lord El-Melloi II." Shiro turned to face his once tutor.

"Outside of the Clock Tower, you may address me as Waver Velvet. If you're wondering why I'm here, I heard of your whereabouts from the higher-ups, and I figured that it would be faster to come meet you directly."

"Is something the matter?" Shiro asked, leaning on a nearby wall.

"I will be returning to Fuyuki City two years from now. You and Tohsaka Rin will be coming with me..."

* * *

Luviagelita Edelfelt never liked the idea of cooperation. She is far too much of a perfectionist to even entertain the idea of working alongside another person. After all, no one else comes close to her in terms of magecraft. A mere whisper of another person messing up her plans could send her into a state of near hysteria, and as such, absolutely abhors teamwork.

Now, however, she has been forced into cooperation. 'Your talents would be wasted should you choose to not participate in this undertaking,' was what she was told. Truth be told, she would rather have wasted her talents than to participate in something that required team effort, but for someone so widely lusted after by women in the Clock Tower to massage her ego like that, she couldn't refuse.

"But why am I here?"

Luviagelita Edelfelt. The Finnish genius. Commands respect and admiration from many in the Clock Tower. Now standing at the doorway of an old bungalow about to knock. She could still back out of this, however she had no choice but to do this.

Knock knock.

As the door swung open, Luviagelita braced herself for who she was about to see. And surely she would rue having missed the opportunity to back away from this earlier.

"And why might you be here, paying me a visit, Luvia?"

Standing before Luvia, carelessly leaning against the frame of the door, stood Tohsaka Rin, in a white blouse worn together with her black leggings jeans. Rin's hair now hangs luxuriously down to her back, her once-signature pigtails no longer seen in years, probably a sign of her outgrowing what Luvia thought was a silly-looking hairdo. All Luvia could do was to click her tongue in reply.

"Well, Luvia? Would you care to tell me why someone like you would care to grace me with your presence?" Rin's turquoise eyes shot daggers at Luvia, betraying the sarcasm in her words.

"Well, obviously I'm not here for Shero, although I wouldn't mind you lending him to me for a bit," Luvia shot back. "Now, I'm sure you should know by now that it is rude to leave your guest standing at the door," Luvia continued as she walked right into the bungalow, pushing Rin aside.

"W-w-wait just a second right there! Who the hell invited you in?" Rin stammered loudly.

"Well, obviously you did, Miss Gorilla." Luvia replied nonchalantly. "Although it is somehow expected of one to behave in such an uncouth manner."

"Who are you calling an uncouth gorilla, you-" Rin raised her voice.

"Let's just get to the point, shall we?" Luvia raised her hand as she sat down on the sofa, interrupting Rin's outburst.

"I'll throw you out if it's nothing important," Rin grunted, crossing her arms, still standing at the doorway.

"Have you considered returning to Fuyuki City at some point?" Luvia asked.

"Probably."

"How about in two years time?"

"Funny how you wanted to get straight to the point when you yourself are not getting halfway there" Rin sighed. "Just tell me what you wanted to say, will you?"

Luvia glared at Rin for a moment before exhaling. "The Holy Grail." Luvia said at last.

Rin's interest was clearly piqued, judging by the quiet manner she shut the front door to the bungalow. "What about it?" Rin asked, sitting opposite Luvia.

"Lord El-Melloi II had a long, heated discussion with the people up in the Clock Tower," Luvia began. "He says that the Association should dismantle the Grail and 'end this meaningless bloodshed'. But, the Clock Tower disagreed."

"Why on earth would they even want to have anything to do with the Grail?" Rin muttered.

"The Association desires to make use of it, since it is an omnipotent wish-granting device," Luvia replied.

"Ugh, this is stupid of them" Rin replied, her face darkening.

"This is apparently where we come in," Luvia sighed, leaning back against the sofa.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'we'?" Rin asked suddenly, taken aback by the mere suggestion of the word 'we'. "It is absolutely strange for someone like you to even think about working together with someone.."

"Silence! I didn't want to, okay? Lord El-Melloi II requested for us to work together! He is meeting Shero now as we speak" came Luvia's exasperated reply.

"Lord El-Melloi II is meeting Shiro now?" Rin replied.

Luvia sighed. "I actually meant to tell Shero instead of you, but Lord El-Melloi II insisted for me to come and tell you instead."

"Hah, I owe him one, then. Knowing you, you would flirt and get all chummy with _my_ Shiro instead of telling him a word about this," Rin replied, barely hiding a chuckle.

The door opens, with Shiro and Lord El-Melloi II walking into the house.

Rin was first to react. "Shiro!"

"SHEEROOOOOOO!"

Rin used all of her strength to keep Luvia from running to Shiro, the resulting scuffle causing both Shiro and Lord El-Melloi II to sigh.

"I still don't think this is a good idea," Shiro said.

"Too bad, the three of you are all I have," Lord El-Melloi II replied.

"So we need to participate in this Grail War again?" Shiro asked.

At this point, Rin and Luvia stopped scuffling and sat on the floor.

"At least that is the plan," Lord El-Melloi II answered. "For now, Tohsaka Rin and Luviagelita Edelfelt, the both of you are to do everything necessary to be picked for the Holy Grail War."


	2. Prologue: Chapter -1

**Chapter -1**

It is never easy to be the head of a well known family when you are part of the Mage's Association. That too, when you are also the head of the Department of Evocation. When those responsibilities is thrust at someone of a young age, it is usually a tale of two likely outcomes - one succumbs to the pressure, or rises beyond it. And the latter is something that is frequently mentioned of Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri. Having had to deal with the loss of his younger sister and future brother-in-law two Holy Grail Wars past, leaving him to be the sole remaining person carrying the noble and prestigious Sophia-Ri blood, he resolutely pushed forward to cement his status within the Association.

Just today, he caught wind of the Association's discovery of the fragments of the Holy Grail being present in Fuyuki City and their subsequent plans to bring back Fuyuki City's Holy Grail. At first thought, he did not like the idea of bringing back something that caused his dear sister's death, but on second thought, if this is truly a powerful device as was said, he could possibly use it to further advance his ascendancy through the ranks of the Association. As such, he was quick to pick up a relic to serve as a catalyst for the summoning. For someone as resourceful as Bram, obtaining a relic in the shortest possible time was child's play. All he needed to do now was to convince the Association that they should follow through with their plan to bring back the Holy Grail.

The most infuriating development for Bram in his plan was the fact that Lord El-Melloi II strongly opposed to the plan of bringing the Grail back for the Association. Lord El-Melloi II even had the support of Reines El-Melloi Archisorte and Bartomeloi Lorelai, two members of the Clock Tower who were more than capable of swaying the opinion of those who wished to bring the Grail back. Bram had to think hard, and fast. He could yet sway the opinions of the other department heads and chief lecturers back to the original plan.

"Lord El-Melloi II, you yourself are a survivor from the Fourth Holy Grail War, am I right?"

Lord El-Melloi II's attention turned to Bram. "Of what purpose do you bring this up?"

"If memory serves me right, you were originally not even meant to participate in such a tournament," Bram said, hoping to goad Lord El-Melloi II to saying something that could hurt his cause.

"There was no bloody rule that says that certain magi were not supposed to participate, imbecile!" Lord El-Melloi II's stare intensified knowing that Bram had some agenda for supporting the plan of bringing the Grail back.

"Hah, but thanks to your participation, I lost my sister and Reines over there lost her brother!" Bram pointed at a stunned Reines as he made mention of the deaths of Kayneth and Sola-Ui some 18 years back.

"Deaths like these are precisely why I am opposed to the plan," came Lord El-Melloi II's resolute reply.

"Don't try to mask your politicking with such noble reasoning, Lord El-Melloi II! It serves to highlight your desire to keep the Association from gaining more power than you can go against!" Bram bellowed.

"What a load of codswallop, Bram! It's clear that you are the one with an agenda here. Have you participated in the War yourself? Have you witnessed the deaths for yourself? Pray, tell me, you're more interested in the power it could grant you than the deaths it can cause, your sister and Reines's brother included. Am I not mistaken, fool?" Lord El-Melloi II's voice thundered in the small space the Association heads used for their meetings.

"You are indeed mistaken, and you're the fool here, Lord El-Melloi II. The Association's desire is my desire. If you don't see fit to serve the Association's desires, then you have no business here as you are undermining the Association's integrity here." Bram replied.

Lord El-Melloi II was furious. "What did you say, you-"

"Enough!"

Everybody's heads turned towards the Association Director.

"I cannot mediate this foolish cut and thrust situation between two of our best people in the Association,the Director began. "I have decided that both Lord El-Melloi II and Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri shall determine who among the two is right by participating in the Sixth Fuyuki City Holy Grail War."

Lord El-Melloi II was distressed. "But Director-"

"Our agents have discovered that the Greater Grail is nearing its ready state, similar to the situation that led to the Fifth War," the Director interjected. "In fact, it may be ready within the next two years. Lord El-Melloi II, Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, this is an opportunity to determine who among the both of you speaks the truth. So, take it to the field of battle. This meeting is dismissed."

Bram eyed Lord El-Melloi II with glee. His plan is now in place. He will bring the Grail back and advance his position within the Association. He can even get rid of Lord El-Melloi II in the process.

Or so he thought.

"But why is he always a step ahead of me?" Bram muttered angrily to himself days later. "Instead of participating in this by himself, he is getting two of his former students to participate in an alliance with him - one of them being the winner of the Fifth war?" Bram hit the wall in frustration. Instead of a one-on-one duel between himself and Lord El-Melloi II, he has to contend with fighting against an alliance of three magi. "No, no, this is not possible. I'm sure that even though the female students in the Clock Tower desire him enough to do anything for him, they wouldn't be so daft as to throw their lives just to further Lord El-Melloi II's selfish desires! Think, Bram, think!" Bram paced the room. He knew that he had to find magi who is capable enough to stand against two of the best up-and-coming magi in the Clock Tower.

And find them he did. Using the reasoning that the Association does not wish to see Lord El-Melloi II succeed and lose the Holy Grail forever, he found three Clock Tower graduates who were capable enough and willing enough to participate in this undertaking.

Bree mac Branain, an Irish magus with the affinity of Fire. She is also an expert in Golemancy and Necromancy, and has been a stellar student and a dedicated magus under the tutelage of Bram. Someone like her would probably be a good fit in direct combat against Lord El-Melloi II's faction.

Mikhel van de Wolff, a mage hailing from the Netherlands with the affinity of Earth and is particularly good with Material Transmutation. Since his graduation, he went on to develop his combat skills as a Sealing Designation Enforcer. His skills and experience would prove useful to bolster Bram's chances of winning.

Viola Dajana Konig, an Austrian aristocrat who is making a name for herself despite being a third generation magus with the double affinity of Wind and Water, specialising in Transference of Consciousness and Healing. After graduating from the Clock Tower, her specialisation was put to use for the Association with the purpose of information gathering and spying, to name a few.

Since all three of these volunteers were willing to do whatever it took for the Association to obtain the Grail, together with Bram's promise of a fast track through the ranks of the Association for whoever survived the war, Bram was confident in his ability to win this war. Maybe just quite confident. Having two genius magi in the likes of Tohsaka Rin and Luviagelita Edelfelt joining forces with Lord El-Melloi II would not make for easy opponents at all, but at least he would have more of a fighting chance if it is a four versus three situation.

Or so he thought.

* * *

If anyone didn't know the meaning of the term last chance slalom, look no further than the Matou family. To be precise, look no further than Matou Zouken.

Having borne witness to all five Holy Grail Wars over the course of hundreds of years and getting no closer to the Holy Grail, Matou Zouken is reaching a level of desperation that time cannot explain. His house is falling into ruin; all his descendants are dead, without any heirs related by blood capable of inheriting his Magic Crests and the title of family head. Therefore, he has no other options to achieve the Holy Grail. So much time has passed, that he might have forgotten the reason he strives so much, and yet all his efforts were to no avail.

But fate seemed to smile on him one more time. Following the events of the Fifth Grail War, he was well aware that a Sixth War could begin after a similar ten year period, as the Greater Grail then still contained massive amounts of prana that ended up being unused. He also knew that he had the fragments of the Holy Grail implanted inside his adopted descendant Sakura, which he could use to manifest the Grail again when the time comes. All he needed was the souls of Servants to fill it up. As a result, he sent word to the Association that he had a vessel for the Holy Grail's manifestation and that there will be another Holy Grail War happening at Fuyuki City.

Several days later, his mole within the Association had brought him news of an impending Sixth Grail War, Lord El-Melloi II and Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri's personal deathmatch within the War, and also the possibility that all the spots would be snapped up quickly. Zouken wasted no time preparing for participation. As he had nobody within his family capable enough to participate in this edition of the War, and since Matou Zouken figured that he had nothing more to lose, he might as well participate in the War himself. It was going to be one final charge to determine if he was going to win it all, or lose everything.

All he needed was an extra supply of prana to fuel himself and a Servant. In which case, Matou Zouken had just the right tool at his disposal - Matou Sakura. As circumstances kept her from participating in the Fifth Grail War, with Zouken's descendant Shinji Matou - albeit a complete novice at magecraft - taking her place and failing miserably, Sakura had a virtually unlimited supply of untapped prana that Zouken could use for the War. On top of that, the fact that Sakura also functioned as a physical vessel to manifest the Grail at the closing stages of the War gives Matou Zouken every shot at claiming the Grail ahead of the other contenders.

As for participation itself, knowing that he is a third force in a two-way war, the right Servant class was required. One that can shift the balance of power toward himself irregardless of who wins the battle of the two opposing factions in this war. He does not care if Lord El-Melloi II's faction or Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri's faction wins the battle. They could all just slaughter each other for all he cared. In the end, he has to be the one left standing to claim his prize. To achieve just that, he had the perfect Servant class in mind.

Matou Zouken had one problem preventing him from setting his plans into motion, however. Shinji's near death experience in the Fifth Grail War served to frighten him away from any further shenanigans thereafter, and Sakura's subsequent care of Shinji has beaten him down to a far more docile person than he was before his participation in the Fifth Grail War. Now, he is the one foolishly standing between Matou Zouken and his adopted descendant Sakura.

"I-I cannot allow you t-to d-d-do this, old man!" Shinji said, mustering whatever little courage he had to stand up against his ancestor.

"Shinji-kun. You truly disappoint me in so many ways, and now you disappoint me yet again."

"I cannot understand your obsession about something that is so dangerous, old man!" Shinji said. "That thing almost killed me!"

"Ah, but that was due to your hopelessness in being a mage, just like your father." Zouken replied. "He was a good-for-nothing, your uncle Kariya was an inept, half-baked one, and Sakura was meant to be our family's hope towards the restoration of the Matou bloodline, but she was kept from participating due to her childish whims and your selfishness, Shinji-kun!" Zouken growled. "You are truly a disgrace to the Matou house! You're worse than a third-rate magus, and you are just as worse as a man for turning yourself into a docile little lamb under Sakura!"

Shinji was trembling from the intense pressure emanating from Zouken. There was no way he could stop Zouken if things got ugly, thus his plan to try and stab Zouken before it went out of his control. Shinji fumbled for the knife hidden under his clothing, but before he could produce the knife to stab Zouken, all went dark and only the screams of Shinji were heard around the house.


	3. Prologue: Chapter 0

**Chapter 0**

It is said that a Servant cannot be summoned onto this earth without the Holy Grail. In order to draw upon its power, one needs to be selected by the Grail. Usually, the Grail prioritises three participants from the three founding families; The Tohsaka family, the Matou family, and the Einzbern family. The remaining four participants are selected albeit randomly, with the only requirement being that one had to be a magus, or at least have some sort of magic circuit.

For Tohsaka Rin, just by virtue of coming from one of the three founding families was enough for her to receive her Command Seals some eighteen months after the conversation with Lord El-Melloi II. Luviagelita Edelfelt wasn't from three founding families, but was able to qualify thanks to her being a high-level magus.

It was during this time when Lord El-Melloi II summoned the both of them along with Shiro.

"As we discussed a year and a half ago, Luviagelita Edelfelt and Tohsaka Rin will participate in this War as Masters. Of course, all that is just a front so that I can work behind the scenes to dismantle the Greater Grail when it manifests," Lord El-Melloi II explained. "Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri was led to believe that he was only going to face me alone in the War, and quickly found himself three more magi to shore up his forces after discovering of Tohsaka's and Edelfelt's participation and alliance with me. Of course, none of them have realised yet that I am not participating at all." Lord El-Melloi II continued.

"You mentioned about dismantling the Greater Grail as if it was a simple process, but what is the actual process behind the dismantlement?" Shiro asked.

"The answer is obvious, Emiya Shiro." Lord El-Melloi II said. "It is a simple process. You have to destroy it with overwhelming power."

"But I sense that things are far more complicated as you make it seem," Shiro replied.

"I see your observational skills have improved slightly," Lord El-Melloi II said. "Well then, here is where it gets complicated. I have to destroy the Greater Grail before its contents spill out onto the Lesser Grail," Lord El-Melloi II continued. "And as you and Tohsaka Rin have experienced first hand, the time frame between the Greater Grail manifesting and its contents spilling out is a very, very short time indeed," Lord El-Melloi II said. "On top of that, you need the Lesser Grail to be present in order for the Greater Grail to manifest. That is what our problem is right now."

Shiro, Rin, and Luvia could have sworn that the atmosphere was becoming very tense by this point.

"The Association planned to bring the Holy Grail back because the Matou house sent word that they possessed a vessel for the Lesser Grail's manifestation, and it is stored in a person by the name of Matou Sakura."

Shiro and Rin's eyes widened and they were stunned into silence.

"Wait, what?" Shiro finally said. His facial expression betrayed his distress.

"What did you just say?" Rin continued. Her turquoise eyes blazed with fury. "You knew this all along, right?" Rin's voice quivered as she tried to keep her anger under control.

Lord El-Melloi II sighed. "My agents sent me the information back then. They also told me that the two of you were acquainted. I figured that I should have refrained from telling you this sooner as the two of you might have rushed into saving your friend and end up jeopardising this undertaking."

Shiro's eyes flashed. "Of course I cannot just sit back and do nothing! You'd rather sacrifice Sakura's life so that you can dismantle the Grail?" Shiro had to use full restraint to avoid grabbing Lord El-Melloi II by the collar of his shirt.

"And you would rather sacrifice the lives of far many more people for the sake of one person?" Lord El-Melloi II replied. "Rest easy, Emiya Shiro, Tohsaka Rin. Matou Sakura is alive."

"Where is she?" Rin demanded.

"My agents found her comatose in Fuyuki City's hospital. If their observation is correct, Matou Zouken, who himself is participating in this War, put her in a comatose state in order to harvest prana from her."

At this point, Shiro and Rin were furious. It took much persuasion from Lord El-Melloi II and some more from Luviagelita to calm them down and follow the plan. Rin was reminded that she and Luviagelita had to summon a Servant as soon as possible before the other participants do. "In a one-on-one fight, the magi siding with Bram are not as good as Tohsaka Rin or Luviagelita Edelfelt alone. But if they all banded together, the both of you would eventually be overwhelmed. That is where you come in, Emiya Shiro."

"The ace in the pocket, right?" Shiro said.

"I experienced Emiya Kiritsugu's modus operandi in the Fourth War, and I figured that this is the best strategy we need to employ in order to ensure success in destroying the Greater Grail and for us to rescue Matou Sakura." Lord El-Melloi II said. "For now, Tohsaka Rin and Luviagelita Edelfelt, you need to summon a Servant tonight."

"Speaking of summoning, I sneaked into Bram's office a few days ago and found several catalysts in there." Luvia said.

"Definitely for his allies," Rin replied.

"Which was why I stole one of them" Luvia said with a grin, holding up a bronze coated ivory piece shaped like a part of a bow. "I'm planning to use this one for myself. So, what about you, Miss Gorilla? Where is your catalyst?"

Rin said nothing, instead she pointed to Shiro.

"Huh?"

"God, you're so clueless, Luvia. It's unbecoming of you" Rin said. "Shiro has my catalyst stored inside of him."

"Quit your lollygagging and let's get a move on" Lord El-Melloi II urged.

* * *

It wasn't long before Shiro cleared the storage house for the summoning ritual. He positioned himself on one side of the Magic Circle, and Rin on the other side. Lord El-Melloi II and Luvia stood further back watching intently.

"Are you absolutely sure that you are at your optimal condition to perform the summoning?" Shiro asked Rin.

"It is. I made sure that the time is correct this time. Also, since we both discovered that Avalon is implanted inside you, the catalyst is available. There is no doubt we will get the Servant we are looking for." Rin smiled at Shiro and steeled herself for the summoning ritual.

"Silver and iron to the origin.  
Gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone.  
The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg.  
The alighted wind becomes a wall.  
The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate."

"Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill.  
Repeat every five times.  
Shatter once filled."

The room reverberated with a steady sound as the ritual progressed.

"I announce!  
Your self is under me,  
my fate is in your sword.  
In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail,  
if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer!  
Here is my oath.  
I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead,  
I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead.  
You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance!"

There was a burst of wind that kicked the dust up and about in the room. Everyone was temporarily stunned by the sudden wind and the subsequent flash of light. Then, as the dust settled, Shiro and Rin were the first to open their eyes, half-expecting to see a familiar face.

"Answer. Are you my Master?" A familiar, nostalgic voice echoed through the dust. When the dust settled, standing before Rin and Shiro, the familiar, beautiful figure of a swordsman in a blue battle outfit. Her stunning golden hair was tied in a familiar bun secured in a blue ribbon. Her sea green eyes held the proud, regal gaze of a king. There was no doubt in Shiro and Rin's mind as to who she is.

"Saber!" Shiro and Rin shouted in unison.

Saber could not believe the sight she saw. "Rin! Shiro!" Her excitement was hardly contained as she leapt forward and held Shiro and Rin tightly in an embrace. "I have missed the both of you!"

"So did we!" Rin replied excitedly.

"This is the legendary King Arthur?" Luvia asked dumbfoundedly.

"Myths and legends have long skewed the image of a hero for many reasons" Lord El-Melloi II replied. "Is it the optimal time for you to conduct your summoning?"

"Eh. Ah. Y-yes, I have ten more minutes!" Luvia stammered.

"Emiya, Tohsaka. Move aside. It is time for Edelfelt to perform her summons."

Saber was confused at this point. "Are we in yet another War?"

"Well, yes, and no." Lord El-Melloi II replied. "Pardon my intrusion, but I will explain everything after Edelfelt over here performs her summoning."

* * *

Luvia placed her catalyst on the ground next to the summoning circle and began her ritual.

"Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill.  
Repeat every five times.  
Shatter once filled."

Just like before, the room reverberated with a steady sound as the ritual progressed.

"I announce!  
Your self is under me,  
my fate is in your sword.  
In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail,  
if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer!  
Here is my oath.  
I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead,  
I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead.  
You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance!"

It was a similar situation as Rin's summoning ritual. A gust of wind, a blinding flash, and this time, before them stood a lean, yet muscular figure dressed in black tight-fitting calf hide and brandishing a large recurved bow made of ivory and coated with bronze, which appeared to be five feet long. His long brown hair was tied in a messy ponytail and his well chiseled face was clean shaven. His sky blue eyes were keen as if one was looking into the eyes of an eagle.

"Young lady, are you my master?" He asked Luvia, staring at her intently.

"Indeed I am. My name is Luviagelita Edelfelt. Feel free to call me any way you like."

"Hmmmmm. Edelfelt is fine by me." he said. "I am Servant Archer. Nice meeting you." Archer casually placed his hand on Luvia's head.

"W-w-what are you doing, you pervert?" Luvia shrieked.

"Ah? You're a virgin?" Archer replied nonchalantly.

Luvia's face was turning purple.

"And who're you?" Archer asked, pointing his bow towards Saber. "You strike me as a Servant and it baffles me that you and I have not engaged in battle."

"Indeed I am the Servant Saber and it appears that we are allies," Saber replied. "As such, I would appreciate it if we refrain from pointing weapons to each other."

"Ah. pardon me," Archer replied, putting his bow down and picking his nose, much to Luvia's disgust. "Indeed we are in a very strange situation. I believed that we should be fighting to the death."

Lord El-Melloi II stepped forward. "The both of you will join forces in doing so. By the way, my name is Lord El-Melloi II. The Master of Saber over there is Tohsaka Rin, and her husband Emiya Shiro is beside her. The goal of our alliance is to destroy the Holy Grail and end the Wars once and for all."

Archer seemed less than pleased. "As far as I am concerned, I wished to participate in more Wars, and your goal is something that is going to deny me of the chance to test my mettle against other warriors," Archer said, staring at Lord El-Melloi II. "Why should I pledge my bow to your cause if it is going to deny me of my wish?"

"Simply put, it is because the Holy Grail has been corrupted," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "And these Wars do nothing except to endanger the lives of innocents, which I hope someone like you might understand, although I don't know who you are." Lord El-Melloi II paused to look at Archer. "I am unaware of your identity, but I will not be so crude as to ask you to reveal yourself to us against your discretion-"

"The name is Teucer. Hero of the Greek Army, slayer of thousands in the Trojan War." Archer's interruption and his extremely casual nature was the last straw for Luvia.

"A-Archer! First off, I find your behaviour a pain in my side, and now you're so casually revealing your identity to anyone you see!"

"Oh? But then your friends here said that we are in an alliance, am I wrong? So as allies, it is fine. No?"

"Uuuuugh. You're such an imbecile!" Luvia said furiously, hunched over in a stressed manner.

"Look, I get the gist of it all. Firstly, this whole War is just a farce, and it endangers innocents. Am I right?" Archer looked around. "I don't stand for that. I've seen the exact same thing in my lifetime, and I hated what I saw. I shall willingly lay my wishes aside to prevent an experience similar to my past life." Archer said.

"I take it as you agree to work with us, then?" Lord El-Melloi II asked.

"Whatever fights I get in the process, I'll enjoy it as if it is my last" Archer replied. "Relax, Edelfelt. I have answered your summons, therefore I will pledge my bow to you."

Luvia's face reddened.

"Ah, it is against knightly decorum for me not to reveal my name after you did, Archer" Saber said. "I am Artruria Pendragon, King of Britannia. I look forward to joining my sword and your bow in our alliance."

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine," Archer replied. "Never did I dream of the day that I would cross paths with the legendary King of Knights, let alone fight alongside you. Somehow I feel relieved that we are fighting alongside each other rather than against each other."

"Lord El-Melloi II," Rin said, turning towards him. "Did you not mention that Matou Zouken is participating in this War?"

"Indeed I have. What of it?"

"Any news about the Einzbern family? By virtue of being one of the founding families, they should be participating as well, right?"

"I received no report of their participation in this War. I did send out some agents to keep an eye on them, but from what was observed, they seemed to have all but given up on the pursuit of the Holy Grail."

"Hmmm.." Rin wondered aloud. "They have given up? I wonder why though. This is a definite case for investigation after all this is over. For now, we have to focus on our task at hand."

"Do you think that we should still keep an eye on the Einzberns anyway?" Luviagelita asked Lord El-Melloi II.

"I have already dispatched a few agents to watch their movements. I have meant to monitor them to be informed if they end up joining in later," Lord El-Melloi II replied.

"Wait, so we have to keep an eye out for families who are not involved?" Shiro asked.

"Remember that if a Servant loses its Master, they can contract with someone else to continue as a participant," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "Despite no report of the Einzbern joining the war at this stage since they rejected the Grail's invitation beforehand,they still have a shot at participation if a wayward Servant makes a contract with them."

"I see," Shiro said quietly.

"You will need to eliminate such threats if they are discovered, Emiya." Lord El-Melloi II continued. "We cannot afford to lengthen this War as our ultimate goal is to dismantle the Holy Grail."

"Yeah, I understand." Shiro replied. He had his work cut out for him from the beginning, but it was a good opportunity to test his mettle, but ultimately, destroying the Holy Grail would prevent a repeat of the Great Fire incident during his childhood. For a Hero of Justice, what must be done, must be done. That was why he spent the last year and a half training hard to improve in the areas he was lacking in, and the remaining six months would be crucial to him. He was struck with a good idea as he was thinking about this, however.

"Saber, considering that you are here now, how about some sparring? I could use more training."

Saber turned to Shiro, surprised in a pleasant sort of way. "Why not? It's a good chance for me to see just how much you have improved."

"Don't go easy on him," Rin said, a sly grin forming on her face. "He could use some torture at the same time."

"T-Tohsaka.. what!?"

"Listen, Shiro. There are three things that I want you to know," Rin said, walking up to him. "First, with Saber not going easy on you, you will see vast improvements in your fighting ability. Second..."

"Y-yes?" Shiro asked nervously.

"Second is, I will always be here to tend to your wounds and your hurt pride every time you finish your training with Saber," Rin said, smiling in what Shiro thought was a disturbing way.

"And third, for this once, I will ask Saber to go even harder on you because you called me Tohsaka yet again."

"E-eh.. b-but.." Shiro knew it was the end for him. At least for the night.


	4. Act 1: Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Papa, Mama, how long will you be away?" Kenji asked, holding on to Shiro's leg.

"I'm not sure for how long" Shiro replied, picking the boy up. "If we get to finish our work quickly, we will be back soon. If we can't, we won't be back for quite some time."

Upon hearing that, Akari started feeling anxious. "Don't leave us for too long!" Akari said in between muffled sobs.

"We will do our best to come home quickly okay?" Rin said, patting Akari on the head and giving her a hug. "While we are gone, you must listen to Aunt Reines, okay? She will be taking good care of you while we are gone."

Both Akari and Kenji nodded in reply as they continued sobbing.

"Are you sure that is what you plan to do?" Lord El-Melloi II asked Shiro. "It's completely unheard of, even heretical, should the Association disagree with this."

"They never agreed with our marriage in the first place," Shiro replied. "I'm doing what I believe should be done."

"However, Emiya-"

"It's the best thing to do." Shiro said, waving one hand up to end the debate as he bent to set Kenji down on the ground again. "Since we set this plan into motion two years ago, I have decided from the beginning that our children will carry the Tohsaka name, one of them will receive Rin's Magic Crest, and the other will be schooled in my abilities should we meet our deaths," Shiro continued.

"Usually, families train only one child to succeed the family in magecraft. You and Tohsaka Rin have been training both your children. What if there is a dispute on who will inherit the Magic Crest?" Lord El-Melloi II asked. "Have you not given any thought to the consequences of that?"

"Kenji has shown more promise in Rin's field of expertise, while Akari has taken more towards my knowledge and skills. From the looks of it, Kenji is going to inherit Rin's Magic Crest while Akari is going to inherit my abilities," Shiro replied.

"Still, it is something unheard of. The Association won't take kindly to this," Lord El-Melloi II said, with slightly more urgency.

"That is why I married Rin in private. As long as they carry the Tohsaka name, there will be fewer complications," Shiro replied. "Besides, we are all no strangers when it comes to defying the Association now, are we?" Shiro smiled.

"Hmph. Don't say I never warned you," Lord El-Melloi II huffed. "I just hope you considered their future."

"They'll be fine." Shiro said, putting his hand on Lord El-Melloi II's shoulder. "Let's just focus on getting this job done so that Rin and I can return to our children."

Rin was quietly listening to the conversation as she prepared her luggage for the flight to Japan. She felt a sense of nostalgia as she listened to Shiro while looking at a few pictures stuck on the corkboard at the wall. It was a little hard to believe that nearly ten years has passed since the events of the Fifth Grail War and that they are now married with two children. A lot has happened indeed.

Rin could still remember somewhat vividly the time that she and Shiro went public with their relationship at the beginning of their third year in high school. Obviously the entire school was less than impressed with Rin's choice, with her being a model student and the school idol, compared to lowly Shiro, the Homurahara Brownie. Ryuudo Issei threw a fit at Shiro, and Mitsuzuri Ayako thought it a prank, initially refusing to hand over the money she placed as a bet on who among the two girls would have a boyfriend first. And of all the teachers who disapproved of the relationship, Taiga Fujimura was initially extremely irritable every time Shiro and Rin were seen together, but after some persuasion on Rin's part, Taiga slowly and quite reluctantly gave her approval.

Shiro was on the receiving end of constant abuse from the male students for months. It was the usual sort of abuse that Shiro came to expect; thumbtacks found in his shoe locker, on his seat, in his desk drawer, and a whole lot of threat letters. It all finally culminated in a much talked about fight at the school grounds between Shiro and around twenty jealous male students who surrounded him, hoping to scare him off from continuing his relationship with Rin. Everybody was completely taken aback when Shiro easily defended himself against twenty attackers, and the abuse quickly stopped. Since then, Shiro earned the respect of the other students. It was certainly a first for everyone, seeing Shiro raise his hand against someone, but it wasn't so for Rin. She knew full well that Shiro was more than capable of defending himself against so many attackers, having experienced fights to the death with powerful beings called Servants.

The next surprise to the entire student body came six months later, when they were six months shy of graduation. When it was announced that she and Shiro were going to move to England to continue their studies there, there was a huge uproar in the school for weeks. On the surface, they were given a scholarship to carry on their education in a prestigious school in London, but the truth was that Rin was going to study at the Clock Tower, while Shiro was going to follow as her apprentice. Some were quite correctly able to smell some sort of conspiracy, but the majority were suspecting that Shiro was just being Rin's lapdog and following her around wherever she went. For Rin, all that didn't matter. She was doing her bit to take care of Shiro after all.

Rin's reverie came to a temporary halt as Saber walked into the room to pick up her luggage. Shiro walked in soon after with the kids in tow and somehow convinced Saber to allow him to do the heavy lifting. Watching Shiro handle her luggage and the kids at the same time was quite a pleasing sight for Rin, having watched Shiro progress from being a guy with no sense of self to the man he is now, never losing his ideals but is able to appreciate the finer things in life like having a wife and children. Rin could still remember the time when she graduated from the Clock Tower too. Shiro proposed to her, where she accepted it without a second thought. The look on Shiro's face was a mixture of happiness and relief as he received a warm hug from Rin then. Even though the Association disapproved of the marriage due to Shiro's status as a dropout from the Association and that 'two family heads were not supposed to be married', Shiro ignored their protests and married her anyway.

"I am still getting used to this sight," Saber said abruptly, startling Rin from her reverie again.

"What do you mean, Saber?"

"You and Shiro never looked so happy since the last time I saw you both. And that you're now married with two children," said Saber as she picked up whatever luggage was left over on the floor and carried it away to the car. Just before she left the room, she stopped and turned around, showing Rin a radiant smile. "I'm very happy for the both of you."

"Indeed we both are, Saber." Rin whispered quietly with a smile, watching Saber as she carried the luggage to the car.

After being married for less than a year and spending that period of time travelling the world to help people in need, Rin discovered that she was pregnant with Kenji. She and Shiro spent a long time afterward talking about their plans moving forward, and Shiro reassured her that he will not make rash decisions such as forging a contract with the world at the price of his soul. Satisfied enough with the answer, Rin decided to remain in London to work for the Association and raise Kenji.

Several years later, Rin was not just the mother of one child, but two children. She has also risen up the ranks of the Association and is widely seen as the future of the Clock Tower. Shiro is as dedicated as ever to being a Hero of Justice, but he is still firmly grounded thanks to having a wife and children. Now married for six and a half years, and their children aged five and four respectively, Rin knows full well that Shiro and herself is more than content with their lives as it is.

"Tohsaka!"

Rin snapped out of her reverie for a third time after Shiro called out to her several times.

"Like I said, time for us to go. Reines will be leaving with the kids soon. Let's go say goodbye to them before we go."

" _Mou_ , why are you still calling me Tohsaka? _Baka._ " Rin pouted.

"S-sorry, Rin" Shiro replied. "I can't seem to get used to calling you by your name for a long time before reverting back" Shiro said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

Rin kicked him in the shin playfully and smiled at him. "Well then, let's go, Shiro."

"Ah, Emiya-san!" Reines said when she saw Shiro emerge from the bungalow with Rin. "There is someone who is looking for you."

"Who might that be? Shiro wondered as he approached Reines. He was a bit more focused on his children to notice someone standing beside Reines.

"Ah! It's been a long time, Emiya-san, Tohsaka-san!"

"Ciel!" Rin exclaimed. "How long has it been? Five years now?"

"Indeed it is," Ciel replied, the Executioner giving Rin a warm hug. "I can't imagine that it has been five years since that time when I met you and Emiya-san."

"Time flies indeed," Rin replied. "Shiro and I still remember the time we joined forces with you to destroy a vampire infestation in Guadalcanal."

"Ah, the memories" Ciel replied nostalgically. "And now the two of you are going off for another task, huh?"

"Indeed we are." Rin said.

"Well then, before you go, I have something for you, Emiya-san" Ciel said, producing a box from her bag. "I came across this while I was in Romania two months ago. It wasn't anything much when I first saw it, but somehow I kept thinking about the both of you. That was why I took it with me."

Ciel opened the box. Its contents surprised Shiro and Rin.

"This overcoat keeps you safe from external threats like curses and the like. It's made out of the burial cloth of a saint."

Rin turned to Shiro, who was swallowing hard. "Shiro.."

"I'm not sure what to say, to be honest," Shiro said after a while. "But I'm sure you had our best interests in mind when you thought of giving this to me, so thank you for this gift." Shiro took the overcoat and tried it on over his black leather jumpsuit.

"My goodness, Shiro. You look just like _him_." Rin said, completely stunned by the striking resemblance.

"I won't become _him_ , I promise," Shiro said, holding Rin close.

There was a strange sense of familiarity in Shiro's gesture that reminded Rin of the Shiro she always knew and loved, and of _him_ , all at once. "I know," Rin whispered, smiling and burying her face into Shiro's chest for a moment. "Thanks for the gift, Ciel." Rin finally said, turning to face her.

"No worries, Tohsaka-san, Emiya-san. All I want in return is a curry feast when you both come home," Ciel said, poking Shiro in the rib. "So then, be safe!"

"Ah." Shiro nodded. "I'll cook up some amazing curry for you when we come back. It will be a curry party like no other."

"I'm looking forward to it too. So, we'll see you soon, Ciel." Rin continued.

Turning to Shiro, she couldn't help but to see how much Shiro resembles _him_ now. The difference is that Shiro's skin have not changed to the colour of tempered steel, his eyes are still the brown that never fails to give her warmth, and his hair is still the same auburn colour that she loved most. All that aside, Shiro has pretty much taken on the same tall, muscular frame of _his_. By now, Shiro had almost all the appearance of Archer, and none of Archer's despair. "If only _you_ got to see the man he is now, _you'd_ be content too" Rin thought to herself.

"Kenji, Akari, remember to listen to Aunt Reines okay?" Rin told the children. "Don't forget to practice your magecraft every night."

"Uhn" Kenji and Akari both said, nodding their heads, trying their best to hold their tears back.

"Kenji, remember to always protect your _imouto-chan_ , alright? That is your duty as a man," Shiro said, placing his hand on Kenji's head.

"I will protect her for you and Mama," Kenji said, trying his best to put on a brave front to his parents.

"That's our boy," Shiro said, smiling. "Akari, make sure you show your _onii-chan_ appreciation for him protecting you, okay?"

Akari continued to sob as she nodded her head.

"It's alright, Akari. Mama and Papa will do our best and come home soon," Rin said, planting a tender kiss on Akari's forehead.

Thus, Emiya Shiro and Tohsaka Rin bid their children goodbye and with Saber, got into the car which would take them to the airport for their flights to Japan.

In the car, Lord El-Melloi II handed a set of flight tickets to Rin. "You will be taking the same flight as Edelfelt and myself, where we will be laying over at Shanghai for several hours." Lord El-Melloi II handed another set of flight tickets to Shiro. "And you, Emiya, will be taking an earlier flight which will fly directly to Fuyuki City. I need you to prepare a vehicle for our use, and you being on a separate flight should reduce any suspicion of us working together."

"Has the Sophia-Ri faction arrived there yet?" Shiro asked.

"To my knowledge, only one of them have just arrived there a night ago. Bram himself and two more from his faction is still here in London, as far as my agents have informed me."

"What about reporting to the Mediator of the War?"

"Leave that for later when we arrive," Lord El-Melloi replied. "We need to establish a base of operations for ourselves first."

"By the way, who is our Mediator this time?" Rin asked.

"Someone who goes by the name of Caren Hortensia. She is Fuyuki City's representative for the Church."

"Hmmm." Rin paused in deep thought. "I heard of that name before somewhere, but I can't quite put a finger on it. Oh well, no matter. I'll remember eventually."

* * *

"This is certainly a first" Caren said, not looking up from the bible that she was reading. "A Master coming to announce the participation of four Masters right away?"

"We formed an alliance before coming here," Viola replied.

Caren closed her bible, and paced towards Viola. "Oh, an alliance? I see, then I shall take note of it then. I do have a question, though."

"What is it that you want to know?"

"I understand that the Grail requires the souls of Servants who have been defeated. Supposing that all four of you defeat the remaining three Servants, your alliance still needs to give up three Servants in order to complete the Grail. Have you considered that?"

"I believe sir Bram's Servant remains while the rest of us will sacrifice our Servants."

"Oh my. That's sad to hear" Caren said, her face looking downcast. "The poor Servants who have to give up their lives despite winning the War."

"Eh, but-"

"Oh, ignore what I just said, Miss Viola. I'm sorry," Caren said suddenly. "I shall certainly take note of your participation. All four of you."

Viola turned to walk away, and suddenly stopped in her tracks after a few steps. "If I may ask, have the other Masters informed you of their participation?" Viola asked.

"Only one Master so far. That is all I know right now since that Master sent a familiar to report to me. Whoever that is, he or she must be a very cautious one," Caren replied, stroking her chin as she remembered that time. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No. Thank you."

Viola resumed walking. "My familiars have not caught sight of Lord El-Melloi II or his faction as of yet. This must surely be a different Master altogether." With that thought, she left the Church.

As she headed back to her base of operations, her mind was busy sorting out the information that she already had so far, and was also busy deducing the identities of the Masters and Servants. Thus far, she knew several things:

 _Sophia-Ri faction:_

Master: Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri  
Servant: Rider

Master: Viola Dajanna Konig  
Servant: Berserker

Master: Bree mac Branain  
Servant: Lancer

Master: Mikhel van de Wolff  
Servant: Unknown

 _Lord El-Melloi II faction:_

Master: Lord El-Melloi II  
Servant: Unknown

Master: Tohsaka Rin  
Servant: Saber

Master: Luviagelita Edelfelt  
Servant: Archer

 _Unknown faction:_

Master: Unknown  
Servant: Unknown

Viola frowned. The introduction of a new Master has presented her with plenty of incongruent information.

But who could this Master be?

Viola continued to remain deep in her thoughts as she processed the information that she had thus far.

If she remembered everything correctly, Bram approached her two years ago with the proposition of claiming the Holy Grail for the Association, and to ensure that Lord El-Melloi II did not destroy this miracle.

She was finally hit with the realisation of this new Master.

It had to be the Matou family. She remembered the time where Bram explained to her the mechanisms and the rules involved in the Holy Grail War. And she remembered now that the Matous were the ones who sent word to the Association of their possession of the Grail's vessel. And if the Matou family is participating in this War, and that they have already summoned a Servant, the Lord El-Melloi II faction must have had their forces reduced. Either that, or Mikhel is too late in summoning his Servant.

"Hmm. A very worrying prospect indeed," Viola mulled to herself. She had to inform Bram as quickly as possible to get Mikhel to summon his Servant right away if possible and ensure that they still have the advantage of numbers.


	5. Act 1: Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Fuyuki City has not changed much over the years. Rin and Saber may have been away for more than nine years, but as the plane circled in to land at the airport, they found that it was still the same, sleepy city that it always was. However, it was not so much the same for Lord El-Melloi II who noticed that the city looks different indeed, having been away from this city for a good part of twenty years. He was staring intently outside of the plane's windows, eyeing the shopping district.

"It's rare seeing you so interested in anything related to Japan," Luvia said.

"Bollocks. If there is anything about this backwater country that I genuinely like, it is only in those damned games that I play on my bloomin' console," Lord El-Melloi II replied.

"Sometimes I wonder where a prominent magus such as yourself would have the propensity to be sitting in front of your TV and playing games on your console everyday," Rin asked.

"Does it not hurt for one to have an interest in anything at all? God, children these days!" Lord El-Melloi II huffed, turning back to the window.

The plane continued circling as it awaited its turn to leave the stack. Meanwhile at the airport below, Emiya Shiro awaited at the arrival lobby having arrived on a different flight several hours earlier to confuse anyone who has been observing their movements. He had to wait for quite a long time as Lord El-Melloi II ended up getting stuck at customs for possessing a large vial of 'strange metallic liquid', which sent many of the customs officers into a state of near panic. Lord El-Melloi II had to resort to hypnotism in order to get himself out of the mess, but it already took up quite some time, which was evident in the irritated face that Luvia wore.

"That should have been sent here as cargo instead of check-in luggage!" Luvia grunted as she got into the driver's seat of the car Shiro prepared beforehand upon his arrival.

Lord El-Melloi II paid no heed to Luvia's complaints. Instead, he ordered Luvia to head straight to the Tohsaka mansion.

"You guys go on ahead. I will meet up with you there later," Shiro said abruptly.

"Huh?" Lord El-Melloi II wore a confused look on his face. "Whatever for, Emiya?"

"I need to check in on Sakura's condition," came Shiro's reply. "Rin and I are worried, to be honest."

"Emiya, you do realise that I need you to remain in the shadows throughout this War, am I not mistaken?"

"But I need Shiro to make sure with his own eyes," Rin replied.

"Oh, bloody hell! Emiya Shiro, Tohsaka Rin! I have been sending my agents to monitor her for two years now. Two bloody years and you still want to see it for yourself?" Lord El-Melloi II huffed.

"Lord El-Melloi II, with all due respect, I'm sure you know that Matou Sakura was originally Tohsaka Sakura before she was sent to the Matou family, right?" Rin asked. "She is my younger sister and it is normal that I am worried."

"So being worried for your sister is more important than making sure that Emiya remains undetected?" Lord El-Melloi II asked.

"Oh, but regrettably, you're underestimating me, Lord El-Melloi II," Shiro replied. "I have been preparing and training harder for the past two years. I have to some degree mastered Reinforcement on my own body. If I Reinforce my eyes, I can now observe anything from four kilometers away, and my body can be Reinforced to perform feats that I couldn't have done before," Shiro said confidently. "It's more than enough distance to remain undetected."

"Fine," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "Don't ever, under any circumstances, compromise your presence." Lord El-Melloi II said with urgency in his voice.

"Understood," Shiro replied as he got onto a motorcycle he prepared along with the car. "They won't know at all."

* * *

Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri's expression would still be livid at the mention of one of his catalysts being stolen from his room six months ago. He has always taken pride in his abilities, and he was absolutely certain that the catalysts he obtained were for heroes that held the highest chance of him beating the Servants of Lord El-Melloi II, Tohsaka Rin, and Luviagelita Edelfelt. It was all meant to go according to plan.

However, he is missing one of his original catalysts.

"Of all the catalysts they stole from me, it had to be the one that would summon him," Bram muttered under his breath. He originally paired that Servant with Mikhel van de Wolff due to Mikhel's frontline ability, and on top of that, Bram specifically chose that Servant due to his relationship and compatibility with another Servant which he picked for Voila Dajana Konig.

"Oh well, It can't be helped anymore. I guess it's going to be more interesting this way," Bram shrugged. He just had another catalyst brought in as a replacement for the stolen one. Hopefully this Servant wouldn't cause too much trouble to the point where it jeopardises his plan.

Right now, it didn't matter as Bram already dispatched Viola to Fuyuki City to set up her network of familiars to spy on the whereabouts of Lord El-Melloi II's faction, and to report to the Mediator of their participation.

Viola had contacted him just yesterday night, informing him of the news that there was a third faction in the War, which meant that either Lord El-Melloi II's faction or his faction will lose a spot in the War. A quick check on Mikhel's Command Spells right after that confirmed that Mikhel could still summon a Servant himself.

Tonight though, Viola sent word that the Lord El-Melloi II faction have just arrived at Fuyuki City, with two Servants in tow. Bram also noted the absence of Emiya Shiro in London from one of his agents here at the Association.

"Two Servants? One of the three has yet to summon a Servant? Or perhaps it is true that one of them is not participating. After all, Mikhel still has his Command Spells on his hand," Bram scratched his head as he read Viola's report. "And Emiya Shiro is not in London, and his location is unknown to anyone at the moment. This is becoming very suspicious." Within minutes, he made his decision to expedite his faction's plan to travel to Fuyuki City. As Viola, Bree, and himself have already summoned their Servants for the War, he needs to get Mikhel to quickly summon his Servant with the new catalyst that he obtained.

"Mikhel, this catalyst should be able to summon your Servant," Bram said, holding up the cracked, bloodstained clay bowl. "Going by Viola's reports, and by my process of elimination, either Assassin or Caster have yet to be summoned."

"Ideally, I should be summoning Caster, right?" Mikhel asked, not looking up as he continued preparing his Magic Circle for the summoning.

"Indeed," Bram replied. "I took great care in ensuring your Servant would be a support type, hence the choice of the catalyst and who among us summons our Servants first."

"I still don't like the idea of an alliance," a voice was heard in the room Bram and Mikhel was in.

"Rider, outside forces have wanted to destroy the very miracle that allowed you to be on this earth again," Bram said.

Rider materialised himself. His imposing figure, gruff demeanour, messy long black hair, and tattered clothes were still very unsettling for Bram even though he had summoned Rider a week before. "Listen here, Master. I don't care for any of those. I don't need any help from anyone if you want something done. You can do whatever you wish, but I will not repeat myself again. Do not ever command me to fight alongside another Servant! Doing so will result in me loping your head off." Rider demanded.

"Even if it was against an alliance of two or three Servants?" Bram asked.

"You disappoint me, Master. When I was summoned, I believed you to be a great magus, but your ability to lead is nowhere near the level of those Imperialist scums that I conquered," Rider said, staring into the eyes of Bram, who tried his hardest not to show signs of weakness to his Servant. "Despite you learning of my identity, you have yet to grasp the fear induced by my name in the hearts and minds of the people I conquered," Rider continued. "What then, is two or three mere warriors standing in my way when I have annihilated entire armies before?"

Bram clicked his tongue. He has been having trouble bringing Rider under his command from the get-go. A Command Spell might help, but it would bring further friction between the two of them, given the differences in their methodologies.

"Fine then, Rider. you will receive no help from the other Servants on our side should you end up fighting multiple Servants from the other faction. Know this however, Rider." Bram pointed at Rider. "If you fall in such a fight, it is due to your own pride and inability to accept my plans."

"Hmph" Rider replied. "You are really underestimating me, 'Master'."

With that, Rider disappeared into a mist, leaving Bram alone with Mikhel.

"Sir Bram, how are we going to fight Tohsaka's and Edelfelt's Servants if Rider is still insubordinate?

"I'll figure a way to get him in line really soon, Mikhael." Bram replied as he passed Mikhel's catalyst to him.

"Is it fine for me to be here? I want to see Mikhel's Servant," said a female voice that was heard outside of Mikhel's room.

"It is fine, Bree" Bram replied. "You're just in time for the summoning."

"Very good. I really want to know who this Servant is" Bree replied. "Lancer too, wishes to know who he will be working with."

Lancer materialised himself. "The Servant you summon better be easier to work with compared to Rider. He is a pain in the arse!"

"I hope so," Bram replied.

Mikhel got up from the ground on finishing his Magic Circle and placed the catalyst on the ground beside it, taking his place on the other side of the Magic Circle.

"Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill.  
Repeat every five times.  
Shatter once filled."

Bram looked on in approval. Mikhel was a fast learner. The incantations were perfect. The pressure in the room was palpable.

"I announce!  
Your self is under me,  
my fate is in your sword.  
In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail,  
if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer!  
Here is my oath.  
I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead,  
I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead.  
You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance!"

The wind stirred the dust, temporarily blinding the magi in the room. Lancer was the first to see the new Servant materialise in the room, and was taken aback by the strange beauty of this Servant.

As the dust continued to settle, the gaze of the others were fixated on this Servant casually standing before them, running her hand through her long, silver hair. Her azure eyes were dazzling to the eyes of whoever beheld her, and she had on a crimson robe of silk, which accentuated her porcelain-like skin. Mikhel was dumbfounded as he continued staring at her.

"I am Servant Caster. And you, you handsome young man, are you my Master?"

"Eh.. Uh.. Y-yes!" Mikhel's attempt to regain his composure was hardly considered one, given how Caster giggled slyly. "I am your Master. My name is Mikhel van de Wolff."

"Ah, yes. I feel our contract being formed now," Caster said, running her hand lightly on Mikhel's Command Seals on his hand, causing Mikhel to blush. "By the way, these people here are all Masters, yet I sense no hostility from them. Have the lot of you entered an alliance?"

"Indeed we have" Bram replied. "I'm Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, Master of Rider and the head of this faction."

"Hmmm. I see" Caster said. "Why would there be a need for an alliance, if I may ask?"

"We joined forces to ensure that the Holy Grail is not destroyed by Lord El-Melloi II's faction" Bram replied. "Ah, but you do not know who Lord El-Melloi II is, right?"

"Hmm. Spare me the other details for later. Should we do this over some wine, no?" Caster asked.

"Of course. Why not?" Bram replied. "I shall treat you to some of the finest wine in my collections while I answer any of your questions" Bram continued as he motioned for the others to go to the wine cellar. "We need to hurry though. We are leaving for Fuyuki City tomorrow morning."

* * *

"Master. Two participants and their Servants have arrived here."

"Have they? Could you identify who they are?"

"Yes, Master. They are Tohsaka Rin, who is Master of Saber, and Luviagelita Edelfelt, Master of Archer."

"Very well. You've done well thus far. You may go now to continue your surveillance," Matou Zouken said. "Notify me when the remaining three arrive or if there is anything else of note."

"We will, Master" the Servant said, fading away into the air.

Matou Zouken has endured centuries of coming close to the grand prize. So tantalisingly close, but yet was not able to achieve it. For Holy Grail Wars past, he lacked the right plan to win the War, and had to learn many bitter lessons for it. This time, however, his preparations were meticulous. He has set everything up for years, and has also summoned the right Servant for himself. He also has the vessel of the Holy Grail in his possession. It is almost time for him to claim his prize. Once all six Masters converge at Fuyuki City, he will bide his time and wait for the opportunity to strike them when they least expect it.

The dream he has harboured for centuries is almost within his grasp.

Zouken's thoughts were cut short when his Servant showed up once more after a while. "Master, I discovered a strange person standing a distance away from the hospital. He seems to be observing Sakura, but I doubt a person can see from such a great distance."

"He is not a Servant, is he?"

"He doesn't appear to be a Servant."

"I am not taking any chances. Kill him. You can feed on his soul after that."

"Yes Master" the Servant said. Before he left, however, Zouken motioned for him to wait.

"Carry out your killing in private. We need to remain in the shadows for as much as possible," Zouken said. "Perhaps it would be a good idea to wait until he goes back to his place, then you kill him."

"Understood, Master." The servant bowed slightly before disappearing.


	6. Act 1: Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"What the hell have you gotten yourself into this time?"

Shiro blinked. He rubbed his eyes almost as if he did not believe what he saw. He squinted as if to ascertain the sight he saw. He may be four kilometers away from his intended subject, but he could definitely see it clearly, no less.

Matou Shinji is lying in the ICU ward of Fuyuki General Hospital. At least that is what he is seeing through the window. He was done making sure that Sakura was still in the hospital beforehand, but somehow stumbled onto this discovery afterward.

His body is covered in blood soaked bandages, with an assortment of wires and tubes attached to him. His lacerated face gave Shiro a hard time identifying him, but there was no mistaking that blue hair.

"Damn it. Just who did this to Shinji?" Shiro wondered as he turned away. Was this the work of someone from the Sophia-Ri faction? Or was this the work of Matou Zouken? Shiro walked to his motorcycle faster this time. He needed to tell Rin everything he saw. She might know.

His thoughts were interrupted when he caught sight of something strange levitating in the air a kilometer away. Whatever it was, its gaze was clearly fixated on him.

"Trace, on."

His six feet longbow materialised in one hand, and a large, three feet long, prana infused arrow materialised in the other as he set his sights on that strange, levitating object.

* * *

"So this is the battleground for the War," Bree said, looking around. "I've never been anywhere outside of Britain, so this is quite an interesting sight for me."

"I've been to Japan before on a mission from the Association once, just not to this part of Japan," Mikhel continued.

"We can't afford sightseeing for now. We need to meet with Viola and establish our base of operations," Bram told them. "She has already mapped out the entire city and has familiars in place to keep track of the movements of Lord El-Melloi II's faction."

"She did that? That's no small feat!" Bree said, nodding in approval. "So that's why you sent her ahead of us."

"Of course. I need us to be there quickly now so we can be updated on the situation. All seven Masters should be here now, and I need us to get things under way immediately," Bram said impatiently. "Mikhel, pick up some speed on your driving. We are in a hurry now."

"Yes, sir Bram."

The Toyota LiteAce's diesel engine roared as they tore through the city roads as fast as the van could bring them. Someone was watching them from a distance as they made their way towards the coast, and eventually followed the group all the way to a decrepit warehouse situated at the harbour. The person following them quickly left as the van stopped and the Sophia-Ri faction alighted from the van

"There was someone following us, Master." Caster told Mikhel.

"No matter. Lancer can stand guard here and alert us if there is an attack," Bree told Caster.

"Very well then, Master of Lancer. However, the Caster class is very useful for the purpose of Territorial Creation. I can extend your current Bounded Field by at least two kilometers wide on each side" Caster said. "You will get an alert much earlier than before."

"That would be good. Viola's Bounded Field currently has a radius of a kilometer, so an extra two would be good," Bram said. "As for whoever followed us, they'd better come and take us on quickly," he said confidently. "But considering we have four Servants on our side, that Servant is very likely to be careful," Bram stood there for a bit. "Rider, follow whoever was following us. Don't engage that person, just observe its movements. I want to know where their base of operations is."

"I will not tolerate you sending me on errands like scouting. Send one of these lesser Servants instead."

Bram was ticked off. "You are the only one who has nothing to do right now!"

Rider materialised himself and walked right up to Bram. "I could cut your head off and mount it on a stake here to prove just what kind of fear I should strike in your heart, 'Master'!"

Bram was trembling slightly at the threat, but he had to assert his authority over Rider. He had the Command Seals, but with only three given to him, it was more of a luxury to use.

"Ah, Rider, I have to say that your Master trusts no one else but you," Caster said, turning Rider's attention to her. "You see, your speed among the four Servants here is unparalleled," Caster continued.

"Listen, Caster. I shall take no command from anyone" Rider said, thumping his chest. "I go wherever I please, and do whatever I please. It has been such, and such it shall be!"

"Does it not please you to know where your enemy might be so that you can plan your next move, no?" Caster asked, unflinching from Rider's brash attitude. "Leave menial tasks like guarding a fortress to us 'lesser Servants', while you take the glory of discovering the enemy's encampment," Rider continued, her velvety voice almost intoxicating to the ears of everyone standing there.

Rider stood for a moment, thinking it over. "Fine," his simple reply came as he disappeared in a mist and left the group.

"And that is how you deal with one who isn't tactful with you, Master of Rider." Caster said after a moment.

Bram swallowed hard. All he ever knew of Servants was that they were familiars under the control of their Master, but he had trouble bringing his own Servant under control. When Caster showed him the meaning of using the soft approach against an overwhelming force there and then, he realised he had much to do if he wanted to gain the upper hand on his Servant.

"Many thanks, Caster." Bram said.

"That was very impressive, the way you handled that barbarian, lassie." Lancer continued, his crimson eyes fixated on Caster. "I like you a lot. It's good we're not fighting against each other."

"Ah, no problems. I have had my share of such dealings in the company of kings and rulers," Caster said, unfazed by Lancer's approaches. "Shall we prepare our position, then?"

"Much obliged," Bram replied. He immediately set the others to work while he went into the warehouse to obtain his usual reports from Viola.

"Sir Bram, regarding Lord El-Melloi II's faction, it appears that Emiya Shiro was just seen on a building somewhere around the hospital area," Viola said as Bram entered the warehouse.

"What was he doing there?" Bram asked, slightly puzzled by Shiro's actions. He has not seen the way Shiro worked, after all.

"I have no idea. He was just standing on the rooftop of the building. It seemed to me that he was trying to observe something. When he left that location, he noticed my familiar observing him and he destroyed it right away."

Bram began thinking fast. "Then it answers the question of why he isn't in London," Bram replied. "Where is he right now?"

"I dispatched another familiar to search for him right away, but he is really good at blending into the surroundings. My apologies, sir Bram."

"I expect nothing less from him, considering how the Association uses him for very dangerous missions" Bram replied. "If your familiars spot him, try to track his whereabouts. He is already experienced in evading detection thanks to years of performing various missions for us."

"Understood, sir Bram." Viola replied.

"How is Berserker doing by the way?" Bram asked.

"It took a while, but I have finally bonded with him. It isn't easy, considering the amount of prana I expended to keep him under control," Viola said, letting out a tired sigh.

Signs of fatigue were starting to be more apparent on Viola now that Bram noticed. More worryingly, Viola's hand has only two Command Spells remaining. As Viola was not a magus suited for battle, she needed a powerful Servant to offset the disadvantage. However, given the amount of effort needed to keep a Berserker class Servant under control, it was a double edged sword. Berserker would have to be used as a last resort, if things went south. Even then, there was no guarantee that Viola could keep up with the required amount of prana needed to maintain control over Berserker.

Bram's thoughts were interrupted by Viola all of a sudden. "My familiars are being destroyed at a fast rate, sir Bram. Someone is already hard at work."

Bram cursed. After some thought, he formulated a strategy. "Viola, leave the task of surveillance to Caster from here on. Her class is far more suited to such tasks. I am going to require you for other purposes from here on."

He had only just arrived. And they are already seeing action so soon after their arrival. It wasn't a terrible development for Bram however. After all, he was looking forward to a swift resolution to this War; one where he will return to London the victor of the War.

* * *

"I am not returning back to the Tohsaka mansion, Rin," Shiro said. "I came across a familiar who started keeping track of me ever since I arrived at the hospital and I destroyed it after that."

"Where are you calling me from, then?"

"I'm at a public phone booth right now. I will be going to the old Emiya residence and will set up my base there," Shiro said, looking furtively around for any activity outside the phone booth. "When I am there, I will call again. I will update you from there."

"Okay Shiro. Please take care," Rin said.

"Ah. I will. You take care too," Shiro said, placing the phone back to its cradle. He cannot afford to have anyone realising that he is in cahoots with Lord El-Melloi II any more than was discovered already. He got to his motorcycle quickly and was speeding off as soon as the motorcycle rumbled to life. The four stroke, 900cc engine of the Kawasaki GPZ900R was put to the test as Shiro quickly made way towards his old home.

Rin placed the phone back to its cradle.

"Emiya, I presume?" Lord El-Melloi II asked.

"Yes. He said he is going to set up base at the old Emiya residence. A familiar has been keeping track of him from time he arrived at the hospital," Rin replied.

Lord El-Melloi huffed. "I told him not to do it, and he did it anyway. That blundering fool has been discovered already."

Rin sighed. "It shouldn't matter in the long run. Either way, he would have already been discovered by other magi sooner or later."

Lord El-Melloi II was not convinced, but he knew that it was pointless to dwell on it. "No doubt there is a familiar watching us too now. Edelfelt is already at work with Archer reporting to the Mediator of our participation in the War, while searching and destroying their network of familiars as we speak. That should hamper their surveillance efforts on us."

"And it will also give us a small window of time to meet up and discuss our next course," Rin replied. "I'm afraid that someone will attack Shiro if he is alone for too long."

"Perhaps we should send Saber to guard Shiro when Edelfelt returns with Archer," Lord El-Melloi mused, stroking his chin in deep thought. "You will be able to relay messages to Emiya and vice versa if we arrange it like this."

"Sounds like a plan," Rin replied. She turned to Saber, who was sitting quietly on the chair across the room. "Saber, when Edelfelt returns with Archer, make your way with haste to the Emiya residence to guard Shiro."

Saber smiled at Rin. "As you command, Rin."

Rin smiled in return to Saber, but her smile gave way to worry soon after. "Shiro may be able to fight against a magus, but not against Servants."

"He fought Archer and Gilgamesh before, so that should count for something," Saber replied. "Shiro has become strong."

"Archer and Gilgamesh are special cases, and not the norm," Rin replied, her voice slightly shaky. "Archer and Shiro were one and the same, while Gilgamesh was too arrogant to fight him seriously. Against a Servant with no such arrogance and the total mastery of their Noble Phantasm, Shiro may not be able to hold his own for long, no matter how strong he has become."

* * *

Sleep is increasingly hard to find at times like these. When you are placed in a stressful situation, the adrenal glands which is located above the kidneys produce adrenaline, which in turn fuels your senses and your muscles with the stimulant needed to react quickly to emergency situations. It is a convenient mechanism enabling a human to prepare its physical and mental state for a fight or flight response.

In order to maximise its physiological potential and minimise the risk of debilitating injuries, the heart pumps faster, while constricting blood vessels around the extremities of the body and unimportant bodily functions such as digestion and bladder function. Meanwhile, blood vessels around the large muscle groups dilate in order for those muscles to receive energy. Hearing is diminished while vision becomes more sensitive.

Emiya Shiro knew full well that he was followed, despite the speed he rode his motorcycle back to his old residence. Instead of getting rest, he is now seated on the floor of his living room, his body flushed with adrenaline, scanning his surroundings often. He was all alone, with hardly a chance to fight a Servant should one come for him right now-

*Ring, ring*

He heard it. The bells that was placed above the ceiling, an early warning system of sorts, placed by Kiritsugu in the past.

Someone is here.

Instinctively, Shiro jumped away from his spot, and he saw a black figure coming down at him from the ceiling.

Thud!

There he was. A Servant. With a blade stuck in the tatami mat, right where he was sitting. In the darkened room, the black figure was hard to see, save for the white skull mask he wore.

"Trace, on!"

Kansho and Bakuya materialised in his hands. "Who sent you here?" Shiro demanded.

The Servant in black said nothing. Instead, he dashed at Shiro, the blade thrust straight to Shiro's heart. Somehow, Shiro was able to see it coming from the start and easily parried the blow aside with Kansho, while Bakuya flew in from the other side towards the Servant's neck. Six months of harsh training by Saber seemed to be paying off.

The Servant was able to dodge the blow, though. He rolled aside and prepared for the next assault on Shiro. Before anything happened though, he was interrupted by the sight of Kansho and Bakuya flying toward him. Whoever this human is, he was being outfought at the moment. The Servant cursed as he parried the blades, then disappeared in a black mist.

Shiro's heart was pumping faster. He knew that the Servant is serious now. He traced another set of his twin blades and started looking around in a state of heightened alert. He did not have the benefit of the bounded field that Kiritsugu set up now since the Servant is already inside the field. There was no telling when or where the Servant would strike.

*Ring, ring*

"Eh? Someone else is here?" Shiro turned around to find out who came into the house, and saw the black blade of the enemy Servant coming straight for his head. "Oh crap, too late!"

Suddenly, a flash of silver and blue.

He knew who it was.

Saber rushed into the house in a gust of wind, shattering the glass window outside and breaking the door down in the process, her invisible sword landing a hit on the unsuspecting Servant in black right in the neck, effectively decapitating him in an anticlimactic fashion.

"Saber!"

Saber stood and watched as the dead Servant's body dissolved into the air. "This Assassin is not dead yet."

"That was Assassin?" Shiro asked. "Wait, how did you know that this Servant is not dead yet?"

"I witnessed this Servant's capabilities in the Fourth Grail War. By the way, Rin sent me over to protect you and to act as an intermediary for the both of you to communicate with each other."

"Oh. T-thanks, Saber. You really saved me back there."

"It's fine," Saber said, a smile forming on her face. "As I was arriving at your place, I witnessed your initial fight with Assassin. You have grown strong indeed."

"Yeah, but there was no way for me to tell where the stealth attack was coming from."

"Nobody would have, which is why I said that you have grown strong, since you were able to hold your own for that period of time."

"Well, I don't know what to say," Shiro said, rubbing the back of his head shyly.

"Just take it as a compliment," Saber replied. "Perhaps, you could cook something for me to eat right now as thanks," Saber continued.

Shiro grinned. That was more like the Saber he knows. "Sure I will. By the way, do check with Rin on what the plan is for tomorrow."

"Lord El-Melloi II will decide tomorrow. Till then, his message to you would be to rest. Archer is guarding the others right now, so you don't need to worry."

Now feeling relaxed, Shiro got started on finding something to cook, and came to the realisation that the fridge was empty. The house had been vacant for ten years after all.

"Oh, crap."


	7. Act 1: Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Let us diverge for a bit to tell the tale of a man. Many criticised him, even hated him for a great deal of reasons. But to his own people, he was regarded as a much-maligned, heaven-sent being, who saved them from an existence destined for nothingness and death.

His life was one shrouded in confusion, whose tales of his deeds were never recorded by his own people, and was immortalised in writing only by his enemies.

Having been born in a family of noble blood, he was meant to be raised to be one, along with his brother. He was groomed and schooled in the ways of a leader, but he also found an interest in the ways of a warrior. Some were quick to discover his natural disposition towards the art of warfare, but nonetheless tried their best to guide him to believe that a leader must be able to lead by virtue of guile and charisma.

The hands that tried their best to mould him into such a leader soon found themselves unable to keep him away from the path of a warrior. Truly, the boy was able to somewhat possess just enough measure of guile and charisma befitting a leader, but it was his strength of arms that set him apart from everyone else. Perhaps, he was a leader unlike no other, differing from his brother who lacked only the strength of arms.

As years passed, and times changed, the boy grew to be a man, and along with his brother, assumed chieftainship of a people who in truth, had more than plenty to live on, but had nothing else apart from the produce of their land to distinguish themselves from the other empires that surrounded them.

In need of other provisions, these two chieftains set out westward to negotiate trading terms with another empire. They would provide this western empire with the produce of their land, in exchange for gold and some of the luxuries that the western empire had. Thanks to their guile and charisma, they were able to rejuvenate the happiness of their empire with the introduction of these luxury goods through trade. The man, along with his brother, had hopes of prosperity for his people.

However, it was all good only for a moment.

Truth be told, the western empire was fearful of the military strength of theirs, and negotiated terms just so they could buy themselves time to reinforce their defences. After some years of such preparation, they ceased trade with this eastern empire, leaving them to return to an existence devoid of variety in their meager lifestyle. Worse, they started claiming ownership over the eastern lands, with all its produce.

It was then when this man knew that nobody could be trusted.

Bram woke up quite suddenly upon the realisation that he was experiencing dreams of his Servant's life.

He knew that it was the contract he had with his Servant that channeled those dreams to him, in order to better understand his Servant and to reinforce the contract he had with his Servant. However, instead of doing so, it left a sour feeling in his heart because he has been at loggerheads with his Servant from the first day.

Just what kind of a person was his Servant?

Judging from the content of his dreams thus far, he was supposed to be a ruler of a group of people.

More tellingly, he was not entirely the same person who he is right now.

He had the strength of arms, which fulfilled the requirement of being a Heroic Spirit, but he actually possessed guile and charisma, and that he actually negotiated terms with another empire. So, why did he possess such an abrasive demeanour unfit for a king?

Perhaps, he was a tyrant?

But there was one crucial piece of information which everyone seemed to overlook: everything ever written about him was written by his _enemies_.

* * *

Rider spent most of the night on the warehouse's rooftop, fuming.

He returned from his task of tracking whoever followed his Master's group empty handed, mostly due to this person's weird ability to completely disappear from his sight. He would have wagered that this was definitely a Servant, but there was nothing that he couldn't handle, by right.

"I take it that you didn't manage to find him, huh?"

Rider cast a glare at the Servant with blue hair, tied in a long, slim ponytail. "Watch your words, Lancer. I don't take kindly to any attempts to belittle me."

Lancer's red eyes narrowed for a moment, before he let out a sigh and raised his hands, palms facing forward in a gesture of acquiescence. "Ahh, my apologies, Rider. I meant no offense."

"Why do you seek an audience with me?"

"Y'know, I have had quite a hard time trying to figure you out. And truthfully, I still have not," Lancer said, taking a seat next to an uncomfortable Rider. "Our Masters were in a pact of cooperation. It means that whatever the plan we have, it's for us to see to it that we get it all done together."

"I fail to see why I should work with the lot of you."

"Ah, but you are working with your Master, no?" Lancer asked.

Rider's eyes narrowed this time. "It is so because I must. I have been contracted to him, so as much as I detest it, I have to."

"But your Master is contracted with my Master, and the other two Masters. So, if it is your Master's wish to cooperate, should you not do the same?"

Rider stood up suddenly.

"Really, Rider. I mean no offense. I'm just trying to understand you."

Rider spoke without looking at Lancer. "Understand this then; it's better that you trust nobody. All you get in return for trust is betrayal."

"So, I take it as you don't trust your Master then?"

"... No."

With that, Rider walked away. Lancer remained seated at his place, scratching his head. Trying to understand Rider remains a difficult task.

"I see that we still have no idea on what to do with him," Caster said, walking towards Lancer.

"Ah, lassie. None of us have yet to be able to figure him out at all," Lancer said, leaning back on his arms. "It was hard for me to try talking to him. I only did it because you asked."

"Of course. I know for a fact that Rider would not like talking to me."

"Perhaps we should leave him to his devices."

"I'd rather not. He is, after all, quite a powerful Servant. It'd be a waste of he wasn't going to be like his Master and work together to protect the Miracle that brought us to this day and age," Caster said, casting her eyes on the clouds in a distance. "Somehow I feel that my life has meaning, being brought here."

"Ha?" Lancer asked. "What meaning do you speak of?"

"I don't know. I just sense that this War has meaning. At least for me, personally." Caster replied. She continued to fix her gaze on the clouds. She, who has been proficient with words all her life, cannot find words to describe what she actually felt, for the reason being that she didn't actually know exactly what she was feeling.

* * *

"Lord El-Melloi II is asking us to return to the Tohsaka residence now, Shiro." Saber urged.

"Just hold on, I'm almost done." Shiro replied from behind the door.

"I'll prepare the motorcycle, then." Saber said, leaving the corridor and walking to the motorcycle.

The Kawasaki GPZ900R was letting out a deep throated rumble as Shiro emerged from the house. He was taken aback for a moment when he saw Saber sitting on the bike.

"You're riding?" Shiro asked.

"Of course."

"Have you done this before?"

"Being one of the three Knight's class Servant, I have skills in riding anything, even with modern means of travel. And I've done this before in the Fourth War."

"You did? When my father was your Master?" Shiro asked as he took his seat behind Saber.

Saber did not answer the question, however. "Just hold on," was her simple instruction as she powered the motorcycle out of the Emiya residence and made haste to the Tohsaka residence.

"Are you sure this would work?" Rin asked, staring at the contraptions that Lord El-Melloi II constructed over the night.

"It should, provided I place these in precisely the right spot."

"But it only works in theory, right?" Luvia asked. "By placing these prana regulators on the ley lines leading to the Grail's summoning area, one should be able to disrupt the supply of prana to the Grail, which should buy you time to destroy it."

"In theory, yes. However, it was never tested," Lord El-Melloi II replied, checking each of the regulators again to make sure that there was no errors in construction.

"How do we know where the Grail is going to be summoned, though?" Archer asked. Out of everyone in the room, he seemed to show the most interest in these contraptions, studying and analysing its construction and mechanics.

"I have prepared enough for all its possible locations for its invocation," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "The Greater Grail itself is hidden deep beneath this city, but it can be summoned at any place in the city where the ley lines gather. I have identified at least six locations, but I cannot be too careful, thus the preparation of thirty of these regulators."

Archer let out a breath in amazement. "Talk about overkill."

"I'm serious about destroying it, Archer. I have to factor in all the possibilities of malfunction or sabotage."

"You really remind me of my friend Odysseus," Archer replied with a smile. "He was a great man. He was also great with the ladies."

Shiro and Saber was just outside the door at this point. Rin was quick to get the door and give Shiro a hug. "I was worried!"

"Sorry about giving my location away, though." Shiro replied, returning Rin's embrace.

"I would really want to give you two pieces of my mind, but it's no use doing so. We have to tweak our plans moving forward," Lord El-Melloi II said.

"Still, it's quite a feat, holding your own against a Servant, especially since it's an Assassin class," Archer said, tapping Shiro's shoulder with the palm of his hand.

"E-eh, but Saber was the one who saved me in the end. I was about to have my throat slit by Assassin then," Shiro said.

"A normal human being would have been skewered by Assassin at the very beginning. You managed to delay your death long enough to be saved by Saber" Archer replied. "C'mon. Take some credit that is due to you."

"We'll talk about that later," Lord El-Melloi II interrupted. "Emiya, for a blundering fool, you did well to stay alive until Saber saved you. That's a fact. We have to plan our next move now. No doubt Bram and his faction will be keeping an eye out on us from here. And Assassin's Master will be keeping an eye on anything that develops from here."

Shiro eyed the regulators that Lord El-Melloi built. "You want to begin by placing these regulators at the six locations as planned, right?"

"Indeed. Tohsaka and Edelfelt will be protecting me while I place these regulators underground, away from plain sight."

"What about magi who are adept at locating these things?" Shiro asked.

"As long as it is turned off, it holds no prana and will remain undetected until it is switched on" Lord El-Melloi II replied. "I will only switch the regulator on when the Greater Grail is summoned, and only one of these regulators will be switched on - the one located where the Grail is summoned."

"I see. Then it should simplify things."

"Archer will keep an eye out for incoming Servants, while Saber will draw their attention away from me should they approach, with Archer to provide support for Saber. Emiya, you will take the opportunity to take out the Masters of the Servants while you can."

"But what about regulators that have already been placed? They can set about disabling the regulators after we finished planting them," Rin asked.

"They need to know where exactly it is. So long as nobody is observing our movements, they won't know. Nonetheless, that was a good thought, Tohsaka. Archer, Emiya, if you notice any familiars throughout the city as we move around, destroy it."

"Understood," Shiro replied.

"... Archer?"

"Eh, what?" Archer asked, still examining the regulators. He was already holding one of them in his hands, trying out its mechanisms.

"A-Archer!" Luvia huffed in exasperation. "Did you not hear Lord El-Melloi II?"

"You mean about what these contraptions were for?" Archer asked, holding up one of the regulators.

"Uuuuugh. You're hopeless, Archer!" Luvia replied angrily. "Lord El-Melloi II wants you to destroy any familiars you find as we go along today!"

"Oh, that? Okay, that's simple enough."

"Do you know what your main task for the day is then?" Luvia asked.

"Destroy the familiars..?" Archer replied hesitantly.

Luvia wanted to swear so badly at that moment. She marched right up to Archer, and snatched the regulator away from him. "You have to keep an eye out for enemy Servants, and provide fire support for Saber if one shows up later!" Luvia yelled.

"Ah, so basically, spot enemy Servants, fire support for Saber, and destroy familiars. Sure, simple enough." Archer replied nonchalantly, taking the regulator from Luvia's hands and resuming his examination of the weird contraption.

"Ugh. Archer, you better be sharper than you look right now," Luvia grumbled.

"Oh, I can be sharp for you anytime, Master." Archer replied with a wink.

"What the hell? Is he trying to hit on me?" Luvia thought to herself, turning away to hide her reddening face.

Lord El-Melloi II took the regulator from Archer's hands. "I'm sorry, but I've already packed the other regulators, so I need to take this one from you now."

"I have to say, these things are amazing. I always had an interest in all sorts of contraptions. When Odysseus came up with the idea of the Horse to fool the Trojans, I was very much interested in the mechanisms involved in its construction and operation," Archer said excitably. "Perhaps, when we have the chance to, we should share ideas."

"If we have a chance to, perhaps." Lord El-Melloi responded. "For now, we have work to do."

* * *

Matou Zouken never liked failing. It is quite understandable considering how many times he came close but failed in his quest to obtain the Holy Grail.

This failure was different, however. It was failure of a greater magnitude. It was humiliating, even ignominious for the Matou household should word of this reach the ears of the Association.

His Servant was unable to kill a human magus. Not only that, but it was the reverse.

Even right now, Zouken was grilling his Servant for answers.

"Our apologies, Master. We thought he was just one human with no chance of fighting us, let alone kill one of us," Assassin said, bowing his head to Zouken.

"How is it that you Assassins would be discovered even though you lot are able to conceal your presence?"

"Perhaps, there was a bounded field and we did not think that a simple human would have been able to defend himself against us despite him knowing of our presence."

"So the one who was killed did not relay his location to you at all? Why did you not send more than one of you to dispatch him then? At least one of you would have come back with information about this person!"

Assassin could not answer. He remained in a bowed position before Zouken, fearing retribution. "Our apologies, Master. We will be more careful from here on," was all he could muster in reply.

"Whoever that was, it is clearly no ordinary person. He is definitely a magus. If you spot him again, make sure to kill him at the first opportunity. Do not engage him alone this time, Assassin" Zouken finally spoke after a while.

"Understood, Master."

"Go and resume monitoring the city. If you see any of the Masters out and about, return to me with the information."

"We will, Master."

Left alone in the room now, Zouken paced around, in a state of deep thought. How could a normal human face off against a Servant and defeat one? Even top level magi would not be able to go toe-to-toe with a Servant, yet this one was able to.

But there was information about one.

When he delved into the information that was collected during the Fifth Grail War, there were unconfirmed rumours that one of the participants in that War who actually fought against not one, but two Servants. Despite just being a magus, he was able to defeat them.

Could it be that he has returned to participate in this War?

Zouken was intrigued by this, despite this information being classified as a rumour, with no form of confirmations or reports. Kotomine Kirei, the Mediator of the Fifth War was killed midway through the War, and there was no form of record keeping since then. Everything after the death of Kotomine Kirei is just pure conjecture, but nonetheless something worth looking into.

Whoever this person is, he is quite possibly a dangerous enemy and should be eliminated quickly.

"Assassin."

Assassin materialised before Zouken after a brief pause. "Yes, Master? Do you have new orders?"

"Do not kill that magus. I wish to collect more information about him. The only information about him so far was that he had red hair and he is wearing black clothing covered by a red coat, am I right?"

"Indeed, Master."

"If he is spotted again, observe his movements. I want to know who he is, and why he is here."

"Understood, Master. However, I would like to ask you a question."

"Speak."

"Once we ascertain his identity, can we kill him as soon as possible? We wish to avenge our fallen comrade."

"Certainly you will. All I ask right now before killing him is to furnish me with information about this magus. He was rumoured to be able to fight against Servants in the Fifth Grail War. This is very much unusual. Thus, find out more about him first before we kill him."

"Yes, Master."


	8. Act 1: Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Caster has certainly been hard at work during the past few hours. She had taken over from Viola the task of monitoring the city, and immediately set to work preparing her workshop in which she could operate from. It is from this completed workshop where she called Bram to his attention.

Bram had some trouble getting to her workshop as it was located deep underground. When he eventually made his way inside, he noticed that Caster's workshop looked very much like the interior of a lavish maiden's quarters in a medieval castle. To one side of this workshop there was a large canvas sheet which framed projected images of whatever Caster was watching via her familiars.

"What do you see, Caster?"

"It's not what I see, but what I cannot see," Caster replied. "No sooner than I have positioned my familiars, they get destroyed by enemy Masters and Servants," She looked irritated, to say the least. "This Lord El-Melloi II has been sending Archer and the boy you keep talking about out to destroy my network of familiars, and they have been at it ever since morning."

"Any sign of their location or movements?"

"Archer and the boy are stationed in one place each, and they hardly ever leave their spot except to destroy familiars out of their range," Caster replied, sitting down on her cushion. "As long as they keep doing this, I cannot see everything in this city."

"Fine then, I'll dispatch Lancer and Mikhel" Bram replied.

"Oh, but you can't send Mikhel out" Caster said, reclining on her cushion. "I have no idea what Lord El-Melloi II is up to, so Mikhel might be walking into a trap."

"Mikhel is a Sealing Designation Enforcer. Fighting magi is his specialty."

"Fu fu fu.. But I need Mikhel to supply me with extra prana. It has been quite tiring for me to prepare my workshop and then be expending my familiars all day long now," Caster replied with a smile, pointing to the other side of the room.

Bram had to do a double take to confirm what he saw at the other side of the room. Mikhel was sprawled on a cushion, sleeping soundly. He was covered in a silk cloth, but Bram already knew what was going on based on the sight of assorted articles of clothing scattered around the cushion, and considering that he has not seen Mikhel anywhere throughout the night.

"A-are you sure that it is okay for him?" Bram asked, flustered at the idea.

"He was not averse to the idea. In fact, he was quite willing and happy to help me out in that respect. After all, every little bit of help I can get from him, would be very, very good indeed." Caster said, smiling at Bram. "Besides, the poor boy does not seem to know the meaning of a woman's touch."

Bram was struck speechless at this point. True, it was a method to transfer prana, but the connection between the two has just transcended that of mere Master and Servant level. Bram began to worry if it would affect Mikhel's judgement should he be pressed into action later on.

"Please cease this method for the time being, while I deal with the ones who are disrupting your network of familiars," Bram said after a while. "I need Mikhel to focus on what the task he has on hand."

"Very well, then." Caster replied. "See to it that I do not need to keep on expending my prana without rest."

Bram turned and climbed up the passageway, leaving Caster alone in the room with Mikhel, who was still asleep. Berserker had to be called into action much sooner than originally planned, thanks to Caster's meddling. Bram was not pleased with these developments as he continued up the passageway.

"Viola! Bree!"

"Yes, Sir Bram?" The two women replied.

"The both of you are heading out. Archer and Emiya Shiro has been destroying Caster's familiars. We need to put a stop to that immediately. We cannot afford Caster to be meddling in my plans now!"

"Eh, Caster is meddling in your plans? How?" Bree asked.

"Never mind that for now. Go and kill them quickly!"

"Yes, Sir Bram."

* * *

"Are you done yet, Lord El-Melloi II?" Rin asked.

Lord El-Melloi II remained busy covering the ground after placing his regulator. "It's the fourth one now. Just one more to go and we're done."

"You know, Shero and Archer might be able to spot familiars, but Assassin is a different story altogether. How are they going to spot Assassin if they decide to tamper with the regulators?" Luvia asked.

"The regulators have a spell cast on it to alert us if it is tampered with. Think of it as a bounded field for each one of them" Lord El-Melloi II replied.

"Master, I sense enemies approaching my position," Archer's voice was heard in Luvia's mind. "It's a Servant. There might be another one headed for you or Emiya-san."

"Understood. Draw them away from us," Luvia replied. Turning to Rin, she warned her of the threat. "You might want to send Saber to Shero now."

"You don't need to tell me twice," Rin said, turning to Saber. "Go."

"Understood, Master. Don't hesitate to call me if you need me back here," Saber said, turning and leaping off towards Shiro.

* * *

"Ugh. Not only am I in a two-on-one situation, it is me against a Master and a Servant." Shiro cursed under his breath. Before him stood Viola Dajana Konig and Berserker.

"I was wondering why you're here, Emiya-san. Turns out you're part of Lord El-Melloi II's faction after all," Viola said.

"Konig-san, the Grail is not what Bram thinks it is anymore," Shiro said, trying to dissuade Viola from attacking him.

"Spare me your excuses, Emiya-san. Sir Bram is acting on behalf of the Association. We have been tasked to bring back the Grail, and that's exactly what we will do. We have to stop Lord El-Melloi II and you all from destroying it."

Shiro backed away slowly. He had to keep his distance from Berserker, who was probably powerful enough to kill him in one blow should he make a mistake. He also had to draw Viola away from Lord El-Melloi II's position. "Konig-san-"

"Attack, Berserker. Don't kill him. I'm bringing him back to Sir Bram."

Berserker roared, raising his hammer and charging at Shiro.

Shiro's mind was thinking fast. He had no idea which Heroic Spirit it was, as a look at Berserker's hammer showed no record of any famous weapon he beheld throughout his years of study.

"What the hell, that hammer is not even a Noble Phantasm. It's just a C Rank weapon?" Shiro muttered to himself as he continued backpedalling and maintaining his distance from Berserker. If it was only a C Rank weapon, he had to counter it with something of a higher grade.

"Trace, on."

C+ Rank and B- Rank weapons appeared around Shiro, primed and ready to fire. Considering its low cost, he could project many of these at a time, and delay the battle until help arrived.

"Consecutive fire, commence!"

The projected weapons fired at Berserker, who displayed the agility to dodge and intercept the weapons fired at him. From the looks of it, this Servant was definitely a skilled warrior in his time even before going insane.

"Trace, on!"

Shiro projected some of his more powerful weapons in his inventory. Berserker classes usually receive a stat upgrade, making them statistically the strongest Servant during the War, and Shiro needed to at least slow Berserker down so he could keep his distance.

"Consecutive fire, commence!"

Despite the sheer power in the weapons, Berserker parried the blows yet again, but Shiro was prepared for the next step. Thanks to the last attack, Berserker was slowed down, and by now, Shiro was already a considerable distance back, with a bow in his hand, and a copy of Hrunting in his other hand.

This Noble Phantasm, with all its power, would be unblockable and probably also be powerful enough to hurt him. Shiro nocked Hrunting to his bow and drew it, red streaks of energy was emitting from it as it powered up.

"Go into the red plains, scarlet hound."

The weapon glowed and buzzed with energy, red light streaming and pulsing from within it.

"Hrunting!"

The weapon screamed towards Berserker as Shiro released the bowstring.

"What.. is that a Noble Phantasm?" Viola thought to herself, surprised at the fact that a human magus could possess a Noble Phantasm. This was the first time she has seen Shiro fight, too.

Despite the great speed which Hrunting hurtled towards Berserker, he was able to deflect the weapon with his hammer, although just barely. The hammer shattered under the impact of deflecting Hrunting, and Berserker was left unarmed, while Hrunting changed course and found its way back towards Berserker.

"That's the end, Berserker," Shiro muttered to himself. Many years spent fighting all sorts of enemies has honed his battle instinct and skills for him to take out enemies using the most effective and efficient way possible.

But he has forgotten one thing. He wasn't fighting against magi or anything on the level of humans or undead, as he was accustomed to. This was a Servant he was fighting.

A red, seven layered dome appeared around Berserker. From the dome, tremendous amounts of power radiated like a seven petaled flower. Shiro instantly knew what it was.

It was Berserker's Noble Phantasm. But this is not the first time he has seen it or experienced it.

The Heroic Spirit EMIYA used it at one point in the previous War.

Rho Aias.

"Damn it. So Berserker is none other than the legendary Ajax Telamonian? Archer is not going to be pleased to hear of this."

Hrunting struck Rho Aias with such force that the windows of the buildings below them were shattered. A huge shockwave tore through the air, blowing Viola backwards and down from the roof of the building she was standing on. Berserker's arm was mangled from the force of stopping Hrunting with Rho Aias, its impact destroying four of its seven layered protection, but he was able to survive the blow, then jump down and rescue Viola from falling to her death.

Shiro quickly moved in to try and locate Berserker, but given that he was at a distance away, by the time he got to the place where he last saw Berserker, he was already gone, with no trace of Viola either.

Saber arrived not long after that, and was amazed at the sight before her. There stood Shiro, in the midst of the destruction caused by the fight, unharmed. Her amazement was cut short as she saw Assassin, standing atop another building a short distance away, observing the entire fight.

"You're not getting away this time!" Saber shouted.

"Huh?" Shiro turned towards Saber as she charged past him and towards Assassin. However, as she approached Assassin, he quickly disappeared and left, giving Saber no chance to engage him in battle.

"Who was that?" Shiro asked Saber as he caught up to where she was standing.

"It was Assassin again" Saber replied. "They are watching you."

"Wait, they?" Shiro asked, puzzled.

"Its a Noble Phantasm unique to them. The ability to exist in multiple copies and personalities," Saber replied. "But then, Shiro."

"Yeah?" Shiro asked.

"You fought a Servant off by yourself?" Saber's eyes were wide in amazement.

"Er.. yeah. But I got lucky too. That was quite literally my most powerful attack, and it drained a lot of my prana. If the fight carried on, I would have been overwhelmed by now."

"I'm amazed, no less. Ten years ago, I wouldn't have imagined that you would be able to do such a thing, but now, you are strong enough to hold a Servant off on your own."

Shiro, who was never really used to compliments, didn't reply. He continued standing awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Shiro, we have to assist Archer. He is also under attack."

"You go on ahead. I will catch up to you, but I won't be of much help since my prana has been mostly used up from keeping Berserker away from me."

"No can do, Shiro." Saber replied. "Rin instructed me to take care of you as well," she continued, putting her arm around Shiro.

"Eh, what are you-"

Before Shiro could finish his sentence, Saber bounded forward, dragging Shiro along, who was unable to voice his complaints due to the speed at which they were travelling.

Before long, they arrived at the location where Archer was fighting with Lancer. Both Saber and Shiro were taken aback by Lancer's appearance.

"What the, is it him?"

* * *

"Damn, that guy." Viola cursed under her breath as she escaped the field of battle. Having narrowly escaped death after being knocked down by the blast of Shiro's attack on Berserker, she had to retreat as Berserker already sustained a bad injury from the said attack.

"Let's get back to base, Berserker."

Berserker let out a grunt as he carried Viola back. She couldn't help but feel threatened now. She originally thought that top level magi like Tohsaka Rin and Luviagelita Edelfelt would be dangerous opponents, but Emiya Shiro is definitely far more dangerous as an opponent, as Shiro's magecraft was far more suited to battle than anyone in Bram's faction, save for Mikhel, perhaps. She needed to return to the base and inform Bram. Even so, she had no idea if Bram and the others would be able to formulate a strategy to go against Lord El-Melloi II and the rest now that their fighting power was clearly demonstrated.

* * *

"Tch, you're good," Archer said, grinning at Lancer. No matter how well he shot his arrows, Lancer was far more agile than his usual targets. "No wonder Lancer class servants are considered the most agile of all the Servants. It sure fits you."

"Hah, don't give me more credit than I deserve, kid." Lancer replied. "I'm showing my agility because I have to. Otherwise I would have been turned into a pincushion by now."

Archer laughed. "Hey, now. Don't flatter me, Lancer. We're stuck in a predicament at the moment. I can't hit you because you're so agile, and you can't close the distance to me because of how fast I'm firing at you. Can we call it a day?"

Lancer turned to Bree. "Master, do we continue? Or should we take Archer up on his offer?"

"Keep up the attack. If he's keeping you back, I'll support you," Bree replied.

"Oooh? You plan to back me up, Master?" Lancer replied. "I'm not even showing my full strength yet."

"Archer is also very likely hiding his true power. I'll force his hand. I wish to conceal your true power for the time being."

"Agreed, Master."

"Oh, sending golems to me, huh?" Archer said, as he watched Bree summon her golems to attack him. Archer remained unfazed for a moment, until Bree upped the ante, sending many golems at him at once. Archer clicked his tongue in frustration. He meant to keep his Noble Phantasm hidden for as long as possible, and this development might just force him to reveal it. To make matters worse, Lancer was already bearing down on him, using the golems as cover from Archer's arrows.

Left without a choice, Archer revealed his Noble Phantasm: Toxo Teukros - Gift of Apollo. His bronze coated bow began to emit a glow as if it was made of gold, and the bow lengthened to six feet - almost as tall as Archer himself. When he nocked an arrow to his bow, the arrow took on the same golden glow of the bow, and its shaft grew in length and girth as he drew the arrow. The bowstring made of the sinews of oxen crackled as Archer pulled on it.

"Fly, and may Apollo rain gold."

A splash of gold was seen as prana flowed out of the bow. Archer's keen blue eyes narrowed as he focused on his target and he exhaled.

"Toxo Teukros!"

The arrow flew out, creating a sonic boom in its wake, shattering glass and blowing down radio and television antennas installed on the rooftops. No sooner than after the arrow left the bow, the arrow split into hundreds of copies, each one with a target of their own. Bree's golems were destroyed in one shot, but Lancer was able to parry the blows aimed towards him. Despite Lancer gaining a lot of ground on Archer, he was forced to backtrack and protect Bree from being hit by the arrows that Archer loosed upon her.

"Oh, well done, protecting your Master." Archer said.

"Damn, just when I thought I was able to close the distance with you," Lancer replied. "But who would have known that I'm facing off with the greatest Greek archer from the Trojan wars?"

Archer scratched his head. "Damn, you figured me out."

"Master, your plan worked. He's revealed his Noble Phantasm, and his identity," Lancer said, casting a quick glance of approval at Bree.

"I can't do more than that anymore. I still need enough prana to ensure you can use your Noble Phantasm if need be."

"That's fine. We could consider retreating now that we know-"

Lancer could not finish his sentence. His red eyes narrowed as he saw the new combatants approaching the battlefield quickly.

"Crap. Master, we have to retreat. Saber and that kid Bram keeps talking about have arrived to back Archer up."

"Have they? Damn it, did Viola fail?" Bree asked, cursing under her breath. "Lancer, I will use as much prana as I can to summon golems to cover our retreat, without sacrificing your fighting power in the process. In the meantime, get us out of here as soon as we can."

"Understood, Master."

"We meet again, Lancer. Although it is unfortunate that you have forgotten about me, given the circumstances we are faced with," Saber called out, hoping to goad Lancer to battle.

Bree was intrigued. When a Servant is summoned to multiple Grail Wars over the centuries, they do not possess any memories of the previous Grail Wars that they participated in. But Saber seemed to be an aberration in this case.

"Eh? You know who I am?" Lancer asked.

"It's unmistakable, just by watching how you fight. To top it off, your appearance is the same as that time when we were summoned in the Fifth Grail War," Saber replied.

"Oh?"

"Don't think that I do not know your tricks by now, Lancer. Or should I say, Cu Chulainn?"

Lancer's eyes narrowed for a moment before he exhaled. "Oh, you mean my boy? He's definitely a spitting image of me. So you fought him, huh? Too bad, I'm the one who taught him how to fight, so you're going to have a tougher time with me."

"What?" Shiro said, dumbfounded.

"You're _that_ Lancer's father?" Saber asked. She was equally dumbfounded at the revelation.

"Too bad we can't stay to fight or to talk. My Master has decided to withdraw from the battle. If you decide to follow us, I will fight you instead."

"You don't mean to say you're running away?" Saber challenged.

"Call it what you want, but see to it that I would not mind fighting you right now should you choose to engage me. Otherwise, let's call it a day and save our fight for the next."

"Tch!" Saber clicked her tongue. "Fine, I won't strike an opponent who has no wish to fight then."

With that, Lancer held Bree close to him and they retreated.

Shiro sat down suddenly, unable to move his body.

"Shiro, are you alright?" Saber asked.

"Yeah, I'm just exhausted. I expended a lot of my prana just to keep Berserker away from me."

"That is impressive, kid. First was Assassin, now Berserker. You're proving your worth many times over."

"Whatever it is, I'm just glad Saber showed up then. It was the most powerful attack that I could muster at that time, but Berserker was still alive."

"We have to go now," Saber said suddenly. "Rin just told me that they have finished placing the regulators without any incident."

"Alright then, let's go," Archer replied.

"Please give me a hand here. I can't move for now," Shiro said, holding his hand up exhaustedly.

"That's so unmanly of you, kid. But whatever. You earned this favour," Archer said, as Saber picked Shiro up.


	9. Act 2: Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

 _Hey everyone. It's my first time actually contributing something to FF, and I honestly did not believe my first fic would be followed by so many people. Thanks for the encouragements you left in the reviews for me, as it really pushes me to continue writing this fic._

 _I also appreciate the feedbacks and suggestions you left for me too. I've got trouble being able to fit every one of them into the plots and twists of this fic, so please forgive me if there was something you were dying to see happen in this fic which eventually did not happen. Plot-wise, I already have quite a lot of things in the works and I'll do my best to make this fic a very good one._

 _Also, I'd like to let you all know that I will be updating this fic a little less frequently as I'm going through a lot IRL right now. I'm currently running a startup with a couple of friends, and to top it off, my dad has been taken ill and is hospitalised. I'm finding less and less time to actually sit down and continue writing this fic, but I definitely want to see this to the end. So please bear with the frequency of updates from here on, and I hope you continue to enjoy Fate/Coda Tale. Now then, onward to Act II!_

* * *

 **ACT II**

 **Chapter 1**

"Let's go over what we know."

By some coincidence, it was the sentence mentioned by both Lord El-Melloi II and Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri at their respective places with their factions.

* * *

 _Lord El-Melloi II faction_

"So far, we know of Lancer's identity, and Berserker's identity along with his Noble Phantasm," Saber said.

"Damn, of all the warriors I get to face off here at this war, it had to be my _onii-sama_?" Archer said, letting out a sigh. "He was a great warrior among us, and very tough opponent for our adversaries back during our days, and was nigh unbeatable by the Trojans."

"But we do know that Rho Aias can be destroyed by a powerful enough attack," Rin said.

"How's Shiro, by the way?" Saber asked. "He was very exhausted by the time his fight against Berserker was over."

"He's fine now," Rin said. "I already helped him replenish his prana. He's resting now," Rin said.

"Oh? I wonder if this 'replenishment' involves a certain activity, judging by how your pajama shirt buttons are all in the wrong buttonholes," Archer said, casting a knowing glance at Rin.

"Eh?"

"Oh? So that explains the weird sounds coming from upstairs earlier, huh? Fu fu fu.." Luvia continued, glancing at Rin with the same look as Archer.

Rin's face turned red immediately. "S-shut up, Archer, Luvia! You didn't have to point _that_ out!"

Lord El-Melloi II let out a sigh. "Please, let us just return to the point now. We need to plan our next move."

Rin was already outside the room though, hurriedly trying to redo the buttons on her pajama shirt, but Saber continued the discussion nonetheless.

"If I use my Noble Phantasm, there will be no problem destroying Berserker's Rho Aias along with him. However, I would prefer if Berserker is immobilised so that he cannot dodge my attack."

"Ah. As I recall, your Noble Phantasm is an Anti-Fortress class, right?"

"Indeed it is, Lord El-Melloi II."

Archer's eyes widened in amazement. "To think that there is a weapon capable of destroying the famous shield along with its bearer," he said, leaning back trying to allow the thought to sink into his mind.

"What do we do about Lancer, though?" Rin asked as she returned to the room. "Cu Chulainn's father is not a mere human or even a demigod. He is regarded as a god, so he must be pretty strong as an opponent."

"I did not even get to reveal his Noble Phantasm, despite showing mine. This is regrettable," Archer said.

"It's fine, Archer. I wasn't there to provide you with backup unlike Lancer, who had Bree," Luvia replied.

"Nonetheless, he was careless enough to reveal his identity. His Noble Phantasm can be guessed based on the legends surrounding him," Rin said. "Shiro has always been fascinated with legendary weapons of all sorts, so he might know a thing or two."

"I'm sorry, but the earlier encounter was the first time I saw his spear," Shiro said, stumbling into the room.

"S-Shiro! You should be resting!" Rin exclaimed.

"I'm fine. Just a little drowsy, but it's getting better," Shiro replied. "Anyways, the weapon Lancer, or should I say Lancer's father, wait a minute. He is still a Lancer-"

"You're clearly not awake yet, kid." Archer said.

"Ugh, give me some time, Archer." Shiro said, rubbing his eyes. "That weapon is definitely not Gae Bolg, although it looks almost similar. I did manage to record this Lancer's weapon though. It would be interesting to know what this weapon's capabilities are."

"Shiro, you said before that if you trace the weapon, you also receive the battle experience and capabilities of the weapon, right?" Rin asked.

"Yeah, I do get them as well, although it will not be as powerful as when it is wielded by its original owner."

"Kid, you're really exceeding my expectations," Archer said. "I like you. Eh, but, I like ladies even more!" he continued.

"Er.. what's that supposed to mean?" Shiro asked dumbfoundedly.

"Who asked you for your opinion, Archer!" Luvia grunted at Archer.

"Back to the point," Lord El-Melloi interrupted. "We still have not seen or heard anything about Rider or Caster, so it is still anybody's guess as to who they are or how powerful they are. Assassin's identity has been ascertained by both myself and Saber, am I right?"

"Indeed. We have confirmed that it is the same Assassin we faced in the Fourth War."

Lord El-Melloi II clicked his tongue. "That is troubling. They have so many copies of themselves, and I myself do not know how many of them there are-"

"I remember around eighty," Saber replied, interrupting Lord El-Melloi II's train of thought. "It was the time when Iskandar trapped them all in his Reality Marble. I counted them all."

"E-eighty? That's too many to kill," Shiro said, bothered by the number of Assassins present.

"That is all that we know thus far?" Lord El-Melloi II asked. "If so, we'll adjourn while I think of what we should do next."

"Alright then," Archer said. "I'll keep watch as before." Turning to Shiro and Rin, he teased them. "If you two are going to replenish your prana again, keep it down or I'll be peeping at you both."

"Guh! Shut up, Archer!" Shiro exclaimed.

"I'd kill you if we were not on the same side!" Rin continued.

"Just kidding, just kidding! Relax!" Archer replied with a laugh, raising his palms.

"Sigh, Archer. Still hopeless as usual," Luvia muttered to herself.

* * *

 _Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri faction_

"Berserker was outfought by Emiya Shiro?" Bram asked. He has had trouble accepting the news despite hearing it from Viola's first hand account.

"He could have lost to Emiya-san. His Noble Phantasm was partially destroyed and his arm was mangled by the force of Emiya-san's attack. He's going to need time to recover and for his Noble Phantasm to be whole again," Viola said.

Bram felt unsettled by the news, which was evident in the manner he paced about the warehouse.

"So Lancer," Bram asked. "You managed to confirm that Archer is indeed Teucer, am I right?"

"Yeah. Just like you said many times. He was meant to be on our side, right?"

"As much as it pains me to admit, yes. He would have made an ideal partner to Berserker."

"I wonder if Berserker might react badly to seeing Archer," Viola wondered.

"Reacting badly is the least of your concerns. If Berserker sees Archer and refuses to fight due to their bond as brothers, it would be very problematic," Bram replied.

"Hmmm. That's true," Viola said.

"In that case, we will need to keep Berserker away from Archer if that happens. But for now, we have no idea what might happen."

"Understood, Sir Bram."

"And what about Saber? Do we know the identity of Saber yet?" Bram asked.

"We only saw her briefly," Lancer said. "But judging by the stats that my Master managed to read in that brief moment, she is quite a powerful opponent to go against."

"Surely there has to be a weakness we can exploit, but we have not fought her just yet," Bram said, as he continued to pace around the warehouse.

"Master of Rider. Thanks to you, I have my familiars positioned around the city now. Many thanks," Caster said, emerging from her workshop, with Mikhel in tow.

"Very well. Now, I am going to need Mikhel to carry on with the task required of him," Bram replied. "As such, I would prefer if you do not resort to _that_ method of prana transfer.

"Oh?" Caster asked. "That's too bad. I thoroughly enjoyed it though. I'm sure my Master found it an experience to remember."

"Eh, what did Sir Bram mean?" Bree asked Viola.

"I-I have no idea, but when Sir Bram said prana transfer, there are few ways to do it, and there is one that I can think of if we're talking about Caster and Mikhel," Viola replied, a little stunned at the idea that was mentioned by Bram.

"Mikhel, I am tasking Caster and yourself to engage Emiya Shiro. He is quite dangerous, so someone like you would be a far more suitable opponent for him," Bram said.

"Understood, Sir Bram," Mikhel replied.

"And Mikhel," Bram added. "I really need you to focus on your task. Please make sure you keep Emiya Shiro out of this War."

"Yes Sir," Mikhel affirmed. He looked a little uncomfortable with the fact of Bram revealing that he and Caster resorted to a certain method of prana transfer to the others and making it seem like it was cardinal sin. "Sir Bram, about what you said earlier, Caster and I had no choice. Caster spent quite a lot of prana to create her workshop, which also includes the three kilometer wide bounded field to serve our purposes. That, along with her trying to establish her network of familiars only to be destroyed by Archer and Emiya Shiro, I had no way to provide Caster with more prana immediately."

"Mikhel, using that method has side effects that could complicate the contract you have with Caster," Bram replied.

"I don't see how that could be a problem," Caster replied. "I find that my bond with Master is now much deeper than ever. That could be an advantage for the both of us from here on."

"Even if we defeat all the Servants from Lord El-Melloi II's faction?" Bram asked. "You do realise that if that is the case, three Servants from our side will still have to give up their lives to manifest the Grail."

"Oh, worry not, Master of Rider. At least for now," Caster said. "After all the talk about this Emiya Shiro from you, he is quite dangerous, after all. If you wish for Master and myself to have a good chance against him, then a good bond between us is necessary. Master is, after all, a magus who fights on the front line, am I right? Then I shall furnish Master with all the support he needs in order to fight this Emiya Shiro."

Bram was unable to say anything in reply except for "fine, do whatever you think you want to do as long as we win," but he felt very uncertain on how Mikhel could be manipulated by Caster after establishing a bond that went beyond their contract. Nonetheless, taking Emiya Shiro out took precedence over this problem, so Bram had to let it go for now.

Apart from the problem posed by Emiya Shiro, he had a slightly more pressing issue to deal with for the time being. Exhaling, he dismissed the others and headed upstairs.

* * *

"Master, that's everything that we have discovered thus far."

Zouken, who was seated on a divan facing away from Assassin, huffed. He was clearly left speechless and yet interested in the development.

"So, this magus has the capability to fight off a Servant?" Zouken asked.

"Indeed, Master. If this magus was aware of our presence, he would have been able to fight us off. It is probably a good reason as to why one of us was killed trying to finish him off."

"And his physical description too, it sounds very, very familiar. I recall Sakura always talking about a certain boy a little over ten years ago, and Shinji-kun has mentioned about him several times before. Could it be this boy?"

"My apologies, Master." Assassin replied. "Concerning that, we do not know."

"Oh, pardon my words. I was merely speaking to myself," Zouken replied. "By the way, I have to apologise beforehand, but I have changed my mind."

"About what, Master?" Assassin asked.

"My previous order concerning this magus," Zouken said, turning around. His face twisted as he grinned at Assassin. "I want you to bring him to me. Alive."

"But Master," Assassin said with a tone of disbelief. "You don't want us to kill him?"

"I changed my mind, somewhat." Zouken replied. "I have a proposition to make with him. If this boy is who I think it is, then he won't refuse my offer."

"Master, about our vengeance-"

"I will hear no more about it," Zouken said, raising his hand to stop Assassin from protesting his decision. "This magus is, after all, a dangerous opponent. I could put him to good use if he turns to our side. I have a very, very large bargaining chip on my hand."

Assassin looked down. "What if he refuses?"

"Kill him, then."

"I shall not protest your decision anymore, Master." Assassin replied. "But, I am hoping that he refuses your offer."

"Hmph, the irony of one who takes the life of another to be harbouring hope," Zouken sneered. "We'll see about that. For now, find him, and bring him to me."

* * *

"So tell me, Rider. Why exactly were you not present in our discussion earlier?"

Bram was seated on a chair facing Rider. Rider was standing a small distance away, looking out a window.

"I have no interest in working with your group," Rider replied without turning around. "Do you not remember?"

Bram sighed. "Is trust a concept that is alien to you?"

"It is not. In fact, I understand it better than you do," Rider replied.

"How so? You don't exhibit trust, even to your Master," Bram said. "I have shown you just how meticulous my plans are, and you yourself said that you believed me to be a great magus. What you said is not far from the truth."

"Oh? So tell me, how much has it gone according to your meticulous planning?"

Bram cursed under his breath. "Not very far."

"The plans you made so meticulously have been undermined by those you trusted. Thus, it confirms that I have been right all along about understanding trust better than you do," Rider said, turning around and casting a glare on Bram.

"Really, now? Despite the fact that you had plenty to do with how little we have progressed thus far? You are one of those I trusted to achieve victory in this War, even to the point where I promised you that you will be the last Servant standing to reach the Holy Grail, and you have not done anything I asked. How has it worked out for us, then?" Bram demanded, standing up and staring back at Rider.

"You certainly need a lesson in leadership, boy."

"Who the hell are you calling b-"

Rider slammed the wall beside him, stunning Bram into silence.

"You do not ask someone to do something you would never do yourself!" Rider hissed at Bram. "I cannot trust one who calls himself a leader yet makes everyone do everything for him."

"You'd expect me to fight against an alliance of three, no, four magi with their Servants by myself?" Bram asked.

"You'd expect your little group of magi to do all the fighting for you while you sit back and watch?" Rider asked in reply. "In my time, I showed my people everything that should be done. I carried out the executions myself, I led the sieges myself, I stormed the walls of the Imperialists by standing on the forefront of my armies. My people did everything I wanted them to just because I have done it myself before them." Rider's glare did not waver as his face inched closer to Bram's. "You, on the other hand, have done nothing of note, instead you made your subordinates do all the work for you. Thus, you can carry on your little game and send these lesser Servants out to do your bidding, but you shall not send me out to do anything for you unless you grow a spine and do it yourself." Rider disappeared in a mist, leaving Bram alone in the room.

"Tch."

Bram had originally wanted to at least know what made Rider so insubordinate, but after this conversation, he was far more confused than before. He showed a very pompous and arrogant side after his summoning and up to just the day before, but after this conversation, he discovered that Rider would never have commanded his followers to do something he wouldn't have done himself.

Bram had plenty of trouble figuring his Servant out throughout the night as Rider has shown Bram two contrasting behaviours. As a result, Bram got no rest that night as he sat down on the chair, trying to work something out.


	10. Act 2: Chapter 2

**Author's Note**

 _Hey there! I must apologise for the long absence from FF. Some of you were aware from the last time I wrote that I had some issues to deal with. Well, it's still ongoing, and to top it off, I had to go for a surgery myself. Thankfully, I'm back. I'm in some pain post-surgery, but otherwise it's all good. I'm not able to pick up the pace just yet - at least until I recover fully. Do be patient while I recover from my surgery. Well then, Act 2: Chapter 2 for your enjoyment!_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

" _Onii-sama!_ "

Crimson rivers flowed in the sand, and as it met the clear waters of the shore, it dissipated almost akin to watching the vapour of one's breath in a cold day, only slower, and that the process stained the clear waters red.

"Why do you behave so, _onii-sama_? Was it something that destroys our honour?"

Ajax Telamonian, the Greek hero celebrated among his contemporaries, be it friend or foe. The crimson rivers in the sand found its source from his body, pierced through by his own sword as he fell upon it. Before him, stood his younger brother, Teucer, distraught by the sight before him.

"You don't understand how much we deserved it, _ototo-sama_. I was the one that held the entire Trojan army at bay when we retrieved the body of Achilles. All I asked for in return was his legendary armour forged by Hephaestus himself! And our great friend Odysseus should himself have recognised it, but he took the armour for himself!"

"But, _onii-sama_.. is it far too great a shame to the extent that you should take your own life?"

"I am forever in shame, for being unconquered in the midst of our peers, and for lacking the silver tongue of Odysseus. Perhaps, there is no place for those with the strength of arms anymore in this world. Thus, I shall go ahead of you to the afterlife where I shall contend with the souls of fallen warriors while Hades watches. Therefore, farewell, _ototo-sama_. May we meet again in the afterlife."

" _Onii-sama!_ "

Luvia was jolted awake in cold sweat. The tragedy she experienced was that of her Servant. She read all about the exploits of her Servant, but experiencing it in the form of a dream was something else altogether.

"I'm sorry that you had to experience it for yourself, although I meant not to show it to you."

It was Archer, seated on the floor in a corner, gritting his teeth.

"How long were you here, sitting in my room?" Luvia asked.

"For as long as you were dreaming," Archer replied, voice quivering. "I was distressed by the recurrence of my visions, thus I returned to your quarters and found you experiencing the same." Archer stood up before long, as he talked. "My apologies for being here unannounced. I needed to see a familiar face to calm down."

"O-oh. Don't mention it." Luvia stammered.

"I shall return to my post."

"A-Archer, if you wish, you can remain here so you can compose yourself."

"Many thanks, Master. I am fine now, so allow me to return to my post."

Luvia found it a little strange that Archer was behaving unlike his usual self, but she figured that Archer was struggling with his past and needed some time alone, so she allowed her Servant to return to his post. She continued to sit in her bed, huddled with her pillow, reflecting on what she saw in her dream.

* * *

"I figured I would find you here if I waited long enough."

Shiro was standing at the rooftop by the time Archer returned, aiming his bow and arrow at a tree some distance away.

Thwack!

Shiro's arrow struck the tree, destroying the arrow from his previous shot lodged on its trunk.

"Practicing your archery, huh?" Archer said.

"I need to keep myself sharp for the upcoming battles," Shiro replied.

"You could use some competition, then," Archer replied. "And I could use some distraction from my troubles."

"What trouble do you speak of?" Shiro asked quizzically.

Archer's bow materialised in his hands as he took aim at the arrow lodged in the tree. "Facing my _onii-sama_ as enemies."

Thwack!

A fine hit. Shiro eyed that shot with a measure of admiration, and nocked another arrow to his bow and took aim.

"Do you have the resolve to fight against him?"

Thwack!

Archer let out a breath, half in amazement at Shiro's accuracy with the bow, and half in exasperation having to deal with a complicated scenario. Despite the mixed feelings, Archer nocked another arrow to his bow and took aim.

"I don't know. I guess I will find out when I have to fight him," Archer said as he released his arrow.

Thwack!

Yet another fine hit. Shiro was amazed that Archer's focus was so sharp that he could hit his targets despite being of a troubled mind. Nonetheless, Shiro nocked another arrow to his bow and took aim.

"If all that fails, I may have to destroy Viola's command seals, or kill her if I can't," Shiro said weakly.

Thwack!

The arrow missed. Just slightly. Archer stared at Shiro.

"You can't bring yourself to do that?"

"I'd steer clear of killing if I could help it," Shiro replied. "I have killed other magi before, and I don't enjoy it one bit. I had to do it because innocent people were in trouble and killing that magus would usually mean protecting innocents from harm," Shiro continued. "But right now, all the magi in the Sophia-Ri faction are not causing harm to innocent people. Thus, I cannot bring myself to kill them."

"Ah, so that's what makes you lose your focus, kid." Archer said. "Well then, if it helps you, look at it this way. If you do not kill that magus when you have to, then the completion of the Grail would cause more deaths. At least according to Lord El-Melloi."

"You should refer to him as Lord El-Melloi _the second_ , otherwise he would throw a fit," Shiro said with a chuckle. "And thanks for that reminder. I guess it was pretty timely for me to hear that." Shiro nocked two arrows to his bow and took aim.

Thwack! Thwack!

Both arrows shot by Shiro found its mark in the two arrows lodged in the tree.

"Good to know that, kid." Archer replied. "Sometimes, things take a while to be understood by mere humans. In the end, I'm sure whatever things that came to pass, good or bad, would work out to be a good thing for us later on."

Shiro said nothing in reply, instead he nodded at Archer and left the rooftop.

* * *

"Shiiiiirooooo. Is breakfast reaaadyyy?"

Rin's morning struggles usually consisted of her sleepy murmurs and constant tossing and turning about. Of course, when Shiro is out on a job, she would have to eventually cease her morning ritual of calling out for her husband mindlessly and go prepare her own breakfast, or to be exact, brunch, by the time she actually gets out of bed. With Shiro around, however, she knew that breakfast would be promptly served at 8.30am every morning, just after the alarm clock goes off.

However, it's 9am now. She is out with Shiro on a job, but he was nowhere to be seen or heard. She can't even sense the familiar smell of bacon and eggs and Earl Grey tea wafting in the air as he is cooking breakfast.

This wasn't like Shiro at all.

Rin slowly got up, rubbing her eyes and staring blankly at the other half of the bed where Shiro would usually sleep. Rin looked around blankly for a moment before slowly getting out of bed and wandering out of the room in search of Shiro.

The sound of arrows hitting a nearby tree outside of the mansion caught her attention.

It must be Shiro. He always does that if he needs some time to think and reflect. Upon remembering that, she decided to try and get up to the roof to find out if there was anything bothering Shiro. However, as she was at the window, about to attempt her ascent to the roof, she could hear her husband's conversation with Archer rather clearly.

"If all that fails, I may have to destroy Viola's command seals, or kill her if I can't," said Shiro as he released his arrow, missing his target.

"You can't bring yourself to do that?" Archer's voice was heard asking Shiro.

"I'd steer clear of killing if I could help it," Shiro replied. "I have killed other magi before, and I don't enjoy it one bit. I had to do it because innocent people were in trouble and killing that magus would usually mean protecting innocents from harm," Shiro continued. "But right now, all the magi in the Sophia-Ri faction are not causing harm to innocent people. Thus, I cannot bring myself to kill them."

"Ah, so that's what makes you lose your focus, kid." Archer said. "Well then, if it helps you, look at it this way. If you do not kill that magus when you have to, then the completion of the Grail would cause more deaths. At least according to Lord El-Melloi."

"You should refer to him as Lord El-Melloi _the second_ , otherwise he would throw a fit," Shiro said with a chuckle. "And thanks for that reminder. I guess it was pretty timely for me to hear that." Shiro nocked two arrows to his bow and took aim, hitting both targets when he released his arrows.

Rin exhaled and continued to look out of the window, her gaze fixated on the white, puffy clouds.

Shiro's fight with the Heroic Spirit EMIYA is still raging on, inside his mind, and inside his very being. It happens especially every time he has to kill in order to save a life. Time and time again, he would return home distraught at himself. Perhaps, that person could have been saved. Perhaps, that person could be reasoned with. Perhaps, all these deaths were unnecessary. Unfortunately, there would have been more deaths if he didn't do it.

The irony of it all.

"Eh? You have been here all along?" Shiro asks, standing at the other end of the corridor.

"For the most part, yes."

"You overheard it all?"

"Yes," Rin said, walking towards Shiro and wrapping her arms around him. "Shiro, whatever it is, remember your answer to _him_. Do you remember?"

"Yes," Shiro said, pulling Rin closer toward him. "I know it's flawed, but I will stay true to my ideals. If I have to hurt or kill someone in the process of saving the world, I will do what I have to."

"Ah," Rin said. The two remained in a close embrace for quite a while. She remembers that Shiro needs encouragement like this from time to time, especially when faced with such a contradiction with his ideals. In a way, the both of them were thankful of the forewarning that they received ten years ago. And to this day, Rin would stubbornly persist in doing whatever it took to ensure that Shiro remains true to his ideals without losing hope.

"Oh, and Rin, I will make sure I do not end up like _him_ now, or in the future. I have you and the children, after all," Shiro continued.

"I know, Shiro. I believe in you," Rin said as she tightened her embrace with Shiro. "Even so, I won't let you go."

"Neither would I. After all these years, I only know one thing - which is, I have fallen hopelessly in love with you ever since that time."

"That's the first time I hear you expressing your feelings to me in words," Rin said, pulling herself away from Shiro and looking at him with a funny face.

Shiro snorted. "But I did show you how much I love you, right?"

"What, only when you're getting into bed with me? I was the one openly showing my affection to you all this while, and in public, no less," Rin said, poking Shiro in the rib.

"Ah, but.." Shiro mumbled.

"Oh well, I discovered after all these years that you're not that type of guy, and I accept and love that side of you anyway."

"B-but do you want me to be more affectionate to you, then?"

"It's up to you, Shiro," Rin said, pulling him downstairs to the kitchen. "Now, you have been keeping your woman waiting for her breakfast for a long time now. If you want to show me affection, you can begin by cooking me a special breakfast."

"Yeah, yeah." Shiro said, smiling as he donned the apron and washed his hands in preparation for cooking.

"Rin, there is a Servant standing just outside the bounded field," Saber said, calling out from the front of the house. "It's Assassin."

Shiro quickly removed his apron and got out of the mansion, motioning for Rin to stay close to him.

"What brings you here, Assassin?" Archer called out from the roof, his bow drawn. Luvia emerged from the mansion, standing behind Shiro and Rin, while Lord El-Melloi II came up from the basement and out of the mansion.

"I'm here to invite the red haired magus standing over there to an audience with my Master," Assassin replied.

"And why does your Master want to see me? Shiro asked in reply.

"He says he has a proposition for you," came the reply.

"Zouken? Trying to proposition me?" Shiro wondered aloud.

"It might be a trap for you," Rin replied.

Shiro looked at Assassin. "Tell your Master I refuse to see him in any way except for him dead," Shiro said, turning to enter the mansion.

"I'm told to kill you and everyone else here if you refuse," Assassin replied. "It's fine by me, since we desire to see you dead for killing one of us."

"What did you say?"

"I believe my words were loud and clear, magus." Assassin's face may have been concealed by a mask, but it was clear to everyone that he was sneering at Shiro. For some reason, his intentions were laid bare for everyone to see. "I will kill you and everyone else here if you re-"

Thwack!

An arrow lodged firmly on the ground, in between Assassin's feet.

Shiro lowered his bow slightly. "I heard you, Assassin. I wanted you to repeat yourself so I have a reason to shoot you."

Assassin glared at Shiro. "You can't possibly defeat us, magus! The last time you defeated one of us, was mere fluke. This time, you would not stand a chance."

Shiro exhaled.

"Emiya, remember what I told you about this Servant," Lord El-Melloi II said.

"Yeah I know," Shiro replied. Turning to Assassin, Shiro took a step forward. "Fine then, I will hear your Master out. I'm to follow you to him, am I right?"

"An unwise decision, magus. It'd be better off for you to refuse the offer and just die," Assassin replied. "However, I am bound by Master's orders. Therefore, you are to come with me."

"Shiro," Rin whimpered, holding on to his overcoat.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Lord El-Melloi II already told me how this Servant was defeated in the previous War," Shiro said. "Compared to any of the Servants, this one won't be as troublesome."

"Okay. Please be careful, Shiro."

"Ah, I will."

With his well-built frame showing no fear in the eyes of those watching him, Shiro followed Assassin and disappeared into the distance.

"Saber, follow them. Assist Shiro if he is dragged into a fight," Rin said, turning to Saber.

"Understood, Rin," Saber replied.

"Ah, hold on," Archer said. Everyone's heads turned to him as he jumped down from the roof. "I will go instead. Saber cannot be in ethereal form to remain out of sight, but I can. So let me go in her stead."

"Archer is right, Rin. I am lacking the ability to enter an ethereal state due to my status as an incomplete Servant," Saber said.

"Well then, Luvia, with your permission," Rin said as she cast a glance at Luvia.

"Of course, Archer. Go and back Shero up if anything happens."

"Understood, Master," Archer said, fading into his ethereal form.

* * *

"Master, you need to see this."

Mikhel walked over to Caster, who was staring intently at the canvas sheet acting as a monitor that displayed whatever the familiars were watching.

"What in the... is this really happening?"

The images seen on the canvas monitor was grainy at best, and did not bear any characteristics which would put it on par with the latest high definition television displays that had a far more lifelike appearance thanks to millions of tiny light-emitting diodes packed together in a small space. However, the image currently seen on the monitor was unmistakable.

It was Emiya Shiro, and he was following the Assassin-class Servant somewhere.

"Is Emiya in cahoots with Assassin's Master, too?" Mikhel wondered aloud.

"I doubt it," Caster replied. "Look at how tense the boy is following Assassin."

Mikhel leaned forward to get a closer look. "I can't really tell. How do you know of this?"

"It comes from experience," Caster said slowly, running her fingers on Mikhel's body.

"Uhh," Mikhel felt his body weakening. "A-are you s-sure it's okay f-for us to do this? Sir Bram m-might not a-approve of this."

"Be at ease, Master. We don't have to go all the way. You know, I have come to enjoy our time together. It has been a while since I came across a strong man as innocent as you are," Caster replied. She slowly embraced Mikhel and leaned into him.

"I-I don't understand."

"I have a wish to fulfill, should we win the Grail."

"W-what's your w-wish?"

"I wish to remain in this world. With you, Master," Caster said slowly.

"I-I feel the same way, Caster."

"That is indeed pleasing to hear. I was afraid that you did not reciprocate my wish or my feelings. However, we have a problem that is keeping us away from fulfilling our wish."

Mikhel did not reply immediately. Deep inside, he was aware of the obstacle before their wish. "Sir Bram's Servant was meant to remain of our faction after we defeat Tohsaka's and Edelfelt's Servants."

"That alone does not vex me so, but Rider has not been diplomatic or helpful to our cause. I fear that we will not be able to manipulate Rider to our own plans."

"There is something I could try and reason with Sir Bram," Mikhel said. "I am just unsure if he would agree with it. I will discuss this matter with you after we observe Emiya's movements."

Almost as if was on cue, the familiar that was observing Shiro captured the image of Assassin and Shiro entering the Matou's mansion.

"Shall we go and attack? We could take out both Emiya and Assassin at the same time."

"I advise you against such a tactic, Master," Caster replied. "Rushing into a fight where there is an unknown force present may not work well in our favour. We should hold our attack until that boy is alone."

"Hmmm. Fine, then."

Mikhel and Caster continued to observe the monitor intently, awaiting for the best moment to strike against Shiro.


	11. Act 2: Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The mansion was oddly familiar, yet it was also oddly strange for Shiro. He had come to this house on rare occasions as a child due to his friendship with Shinji and Sakura, but he was never able to recall ever being in the house due to its weird unfamiliarity for him. Perhaps, it wasn't caused the house itself, but by the person that is currently sitting before him.

To be precise, the _thing_ sitting before him.

The master of the house, the master and head of the family, also the Master of Assassin.

"Welcome, boy."

Matou Zouken's spectral eyes gleamed with glee, which Shiro found rather unsettling. However, he remained silent, and stared back at Zouken.

"Oh? You want to get down to business immediately, no?" Zouken asked.

"I'd rather get this over and done with, and then get back right away," Shiro replied, speaking through clenched teeth.

"Patience, boy." Zouken replied, leaning forward. "See now, I understand that you bear me animosity due to what has happened to my grandchildren, but I'd like for you to listen to what I need to tell you."

"I don't see why I should listen to you," Shiro replied. "I know you were the one who put Sakura and Shinji in their current state."

"Ah, but I hope you would understand me, however," Zouken said standing up. "See, it is the wish of my family since the very beginning to achieve this miracle. You must wonder, why a magus then carrying the Zolgen name would risk deportation - or worse - death, to cross a narrow expanse of sea to another land, and change his family name to Matou."

"Humor me, then." Shiro replied. "Tell me what your wish is."

"... I... I don't remember." Zouken's cold, hard expression gave way to an uncharacteristic look of forgetfulness, casting his spectral gaze to some far-off place beyond Shiro. "But, that isn't important right now," Zouken continued, quickly returning to his usual demeanour. "I have a proposition for you."

Shiro remained silent, staring back at Zouken. His fists were clenched and he was quivering.

"See, I feel compelled to believe that you wish to come to the rescue of my grandchildren. And my proposition would be for you to do whatever is possible for you to ensure that I am the last Master standing, so that I can claim that which I was striving for all this time," Zouken said, standing up from his chair. "I will return my grandchildren to you when you keep your end of the bargain."

"I don't see this as a proposition," Shiro said. "It's a threat, right?" Kansho and Bakuya appeared in Shiro's hands. Assassin stood rapt at attention, drawing his blade, but Zouken motioned for him to stop.

"Ah, but you must be mistaken, boy. What makes you believe that I would be threatening you?"

"Your Servant had me come here on the pretext that my friends and I would be killed if I refused to come and see you. Now that I have flatly refused your 'proposition', there was actually no point for me to even come here, am I right?" Shiro said. "Besides, I noticed from early on that I have been surrounded by your Servant ever since I was in this room."

"You're so perceptive, boy." Zouken remarked, a small grin forming on his dry lips. "Not even the threat of death fazes you. Perhaps, if I told you that the lives of my grandchildren is at stake, would you have cooperated?"

"Hmph, I was right about this being a threat instead of mere proposition," Shiro replied dryly. "Your threats still do not carry any weight. You need Sakura to be alive in order to achieve your goals."

"But do I need Shinji-kun to be alive, then?"

"Damn it," Shiro muttered under his breath, lunging forward at Zouken in a flash, aiming his weapon at Zouken's neck. His attack was quickly blocked by one of the Assassins, while the other Assassins in the room quickly moved in, targetting Shiro's exposed back.

The Assassins could not move in for the kill, however, as a barrage of golden arrows tore through the ceiling of the room and struck the Assassins from above and behind them, killing several of them at once.

"Kid! You alright?" Archer shouted from the hole in the roof.

"Thanks, you saved me," Shiro replied, pushing Assassin away. Zouken had escaped in the confusion, but that was not important for him right now. "Archer! We need to get to the hospital right away! Please take me there!"

"Got it!" Archer replied, jumping down.

"We are not going to allow you to do that!" Assassin replied, brandishing his blade.

"Try and stop us, then." Shiro taunted, throwing his blades at Assassin, who hastily retreated back by a step to parry the thrown blades. Archer took the opportunity to pick Shiro up and launch himself past Assassin and away from the house, bounding toward the hospital as fast as he could go, with Assassin in hot pursuit.

"Can you outrun him, Archer?" Shiro asked, struggling to hang on to Archer due to the great speed in which they were travelling.

"That guy doesn't look incredibly fast, but there is no guarantee!"

"Damn, you might really need to step it up!" Shiro exclaimed. Archer turned his head to see what Shiro meant and cursed under his breath at the sight.

There it was, the ability of Assassin, as told by Lord El-Melloi II - Zabaniya: Delusional Illusion.

"It looks like all of them!" Archer grunted. "One of them was killed by Saber the other night, and I just killed six of them in the earlier barrage."

"So there should be 73 remaining, no?" Shiro asked.

"I counted 50 of them pursuing us," Archer replied.

"I should take the whole lot of them out, then." Shiro said.

"Huh?"

"Archer, let me go when I ask you to, then head straight to the hospital and rescue Shinji."

"Who's that guy? How will I know it's him?"

"Ugh, I forgot.. never mind! I'll take them all out as fast as I can, then we head to the hospital then!"

"You should be quick about it then, we're almost there!"

* * *

"Shero is in trouble!" Luvia said, rushing down the stairs from her room. Rin and Saber was sitting at the living room, feeling tense. The announcement did no favour to their mood.

"What!?" Both exclaimed at the same time.

"Archer just told me that they are trying to rescue your friend and almost all the Assassins are pursuing them!"

"We must head out!" Saber said, rushing to Rin's side. She was about to put her arm around Rin when Luvia spoke up again.

"Wait, Archer is telling me that Shero is about to use something powerful enough to kill them all at once!"

"So it came down to _that_ , huh?" Rin said, slumping down on the chair. Her face was flushed and she started to take long, deep breaths.

"Rin? What's wrong?" Saber asked.

"I have a contract with Shiro to supply extra prana if he needs to use _that_. I can already feel my prana draining rather quickly."

"Will you be alright? Do you need any assistance, Rin?" Saber asked worriedly.

"It will be fine. Just give it a while and I should be able to recover my prana levels later," Rin replied with a grin. "Let's trust that Shiro will get the job done."

* * *

 _I am the bone of my sword._

 _Steel is my body, and fire is my blood._

 _I have created over a thousand blades._

 _Unaware of loss, nor aware of gain._

 _Withstood pain to create weapons, waiting for someone's arrival._

 _I have no regrets, this is the only path..._

Archer could feel the immense pressure of the prana generated by Shiro as he recited his incantation. He had never felt anything so intense coming from Shiro all this while, and was only impressed due to his survival after going up against Assassin and Berserker. This, however, is raising the bar of his expectations by a whole lot.

"Archer, I'm about to activate it. Prepare yourself."

"Huh?"

 _My whole life was Unlimited Blade Works!_

Archer grimaced as he felt a gust of hot wind against his face, and was then taken aback when he saw the landscape around him changing from Fuyuki's familiar cityscape to a barren, sunburnt wasteland. The solid buildings he was standing on earlier too gave way to a dry, crusty soil littered with an assortment of bladed weaponry as far as his eyes could see.

"Is.. this.. a Reality Marble?"

Looking up at the scorching sky, he observed the sun shining ever so brighter than before, painting the clouds amber, making it seem as if the sky was on fire. At this point, Archer realised that the atmosphere around this Reality Marble was so hot and oppressive that he felt as if he was put into a pressure cooker.

Archer looked down again and saw that the Assassins who were in pursuit had also stopped to marvel at the sight before them and exhibit signs of fear.

Shiro walked forward towards the group of Assassins standing before him, his many swords rising up from the ground and levitating in the air.

"It's time for the lot of you to meet your death," Shiro said, his right hand extended upwards to the sky. "Too bad I can't finish all of you off at once, but at least five of you remaining compared to all of you remaining would make our life easier. The swords began to emit a buzzing sound as they vibrated in the air.

Shiro dropped his hand and the swords flew towards the group of Assassins, who at first were in a stunned state from the sudden change in their surroundings, then quickly drawing their blades and attempting to parry the swords. Several of the Assassins were felled from the first barrage while the rest were able to dodge or parry the swords as they rained down, whistling in the air as they approached. The Assassins were however pressed into action again as many more swords were raining down on them.

Shiro had directed the swords to barrage the sides of the group, forcing them to close ranks and form a large defensive circle. They were so overwhelmed by the sheer number of swords raining down on them that the group was reduced into a panicked, confused rabble as the barrage of swords picked the group apart one Assassin at a time.

Before long, all that was left was a pile of bodies pierced by a great number of swords, which eventually dissolved and faded away. Archer looked on with wonder at the sheer effectiveness of Shiro's work killing off the Servant.

"Kid, that reduced me to a speechless idiot."

Shiro turned around to face him, and the Reality Marble quickly disappeared as it collapsed. "Sorry, Archer. We don't have much time. We need to get to the hospital quickly." Shiro put his hands on his knees, his breathing slightly laboured. "I'm sorry, but I need to rely on you."

"After treating me to such a spectacular display, you earned this favour from me," Archer replied as he picked Shiro up and headed straight for the hospital.

* * *

"Archer just told me that Shero beat 50 Assassins at one go," Luvia piped up suddenly, informing the others who were waiting somewhat anxiously at the living room. Rin however, was the only one in the room who was not very worried.

"Oh, I see." Rin replied almost nonchalantly.

"Wait, don't you think that even for Shero, 50 copies of a single Servant would come across as surprising?"

"I doubted my husband's capabilities once upon a time, but he has been putting my worries to rest lately," Rin replied with a grin. "Besides, I knew it when my supply of prana to Shiro stopped normally."

"Eh, but Lord El-Melloi II -"

"Saber and I told Emiya that this particular Assassin was defeated when placed inside a Reality Marble with no chance of escape. He simply followed that instruction to the letter," Lord El-Melloi II replied before taking a sip of the Earl Grey tea. "Hm. This doesn't taste as good as the one Emiya brews."

"I told you so," Rin replied.

"How could you all be acting so calm about all this!?" Luvia asked exasperatedly.

"Like I said, just two nights ago, I doubted if Shiro could take on a Servant as he is," Rin said. "It's true that Shiro barely makes it through after each encounter, but now, given that he knows exactly how to deal with a Servant effectively, he would be able to beat that Servant, no matter how strong that Servant is."

Luvia seemed not to buy the argument. "Yeah, but still.. a human magus against a Servant..."

Rin's attention phased out from the discussion as she began to reflect on her husband's growth throughout the years. It all began with the sudden physical growth spurt Shiro experienced right after they left Homurahara Academy, when Shiro - only just slightly taller than she was then - added several more inches to his stature within a year. She secretly loved the way he looked when he was that tall, but he was still too thin for that height.

That all changed over the following year when Shiro's appetite grew and he began eating far more than his usual amount. That, and his constant habit of exercising and training, began to add to his mass and was soon sporting a lean and muscular body structure that became the envy of the male student populace in the Clock Tower, and the object of attention from the female students - if they were not busy giving their attention to Lord El-Melloi II or Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri.

Physical abilities aside, despite his lacking in raw abilities, Shiro made advancements in his capabilities as a magus, but the most conspicuous change Rin observed in Shiro was his obsession with legendary weapons and their effective usage in combat situations. Shiro's unwavering devotion to the application of his learned crafts in the Clock Tower drove him to places far and wide, tracking down and discovering ancient weaponry which he did not see before to add to his repository of weapons gleaned from his brief exposure to Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon. With every new weapon he discovered, he too had absorbed its history, knowledge, and application of its powers into his ever-growing fighting capabilities.

Shiro continued to seek out knowledge of martial arts, combat tactics, and strategy especially after he declined the offer to join the Mage's Association, and he wasted no time in applying his knowledge into his "work" of being the Hero of Justice, gaining the experience he sorely needed to carry out his work with maximum efficiency.

In many ways, Shiro was resembling his alternate future self.

"Are you listening to me, Miss Gorilla?" Luvia asked, startling Rin for a brief moment.

"Eh, ah, sorry. I wasn't listening," Rin replied.

"Oh my God. Why is everyone so calm about this?"

Luvia's animated acts of exasperation was interrupted by Archer's sudden entry to the mansion, holding on to a bloodied and distraught Shiro, who seemed listless and inconsolable.

Everyone was taken aback momentarily. Lord El-Melloi II hastily placed his teacup on the table and strode over to the two. "What on earth just happened?"

"S-Shiro?" Rin asked, a look of worry forming on her face. "What happened?"

Shiro cringed upon hearing Rin's question, tears beginning to stream down his face.

Rin rushed over to Shiro and held on to him. Archer, equally affected by whatever happened out there, quickly walked away and slumped down at a corner.

"Archer?" Saber asked.

"W-what happened, Archer?" Luvia continued, running to Archer's side.

"Shiro! Get yourself together! Tell us what happened?" Saber said urgently.

"...d."

Rin leaned in closer to Shiro's lips, straining her ears to listen closely. "What did you say, Shiro?"

"Shinji.. Shinji's dead."


	12. Act 2: Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

In a distant time past, when mankind was few and were not thriving through sheer numbers, the gods themselves made the earth their domain. Because they held powers and abilities that mere mortals could not fathom, they were revered and worshipped all the same.

Little did the mere mortals know, that these gods were all not the same in terms of their place in the pantheon.

Perched at the top the pantheon, were the high gods. These gods were the ones who held absolute power over time, space, and all things pertaining to the universe. These high gods saw it fit to produce after their own kind, and thus gave themselves to every form of debauchery and lust, lying with each other and had no limitations or preferences as to who they chose to lie with. Thus, out of such acts, the lesser gods were born into this world.

Sitting a rung lower in the pantheon, these lesser gods were the offspring of the high gods and held somewhat less power and control compared to their parents. Nevertheless, they still wielded enough power to set themselves apart from mere mortals.

Of course, the high gods and the lesser gods would, once in a while, look upon a mortal and give in to their base and carnal desires, taking these mortals and lying with them, producing a different sort of god through these mortals; demigods.

Our tale begins from the time two lesser gods found each other, springing forth a tale of lust and murderous intents.

Not everybody can boast the misfortune of being wanted dead the moment one was conceived, even for a god.

Perhaps, it was well within reason that this god was wanted dead. After all, not everyone can boast of having a prophecy concerning themselves. Not everyone, but this god. Better still, this god was prophesied to end up killing his mother's father.

To better understand the context of this god's misfortune, a look at the circumstances following the prophecy could shed some light on the matter.

It all began after a certain god faced a prophecy: "You will be killed by a male child born from your daughter."

This god, fearing for his own life, imprisoned his only daughter in a high tower, condemned to spend the rest of her life behind high walls, cared for by twelve handmaidens, and condemned to never know what a man looks like.

The thing about prophecies, however, is that all things must come to pass.

A certain someone named Mac Cinnfhaelaidh had in his possession, a prize which was coveted by many. He resisted many approaches to purchase his prize, and eventually fell to a scheme to cheat him of his prize.

Upon discovering that this god was the one who stole his prize, he sought retribution by breaking into the high tower which housed the god's daughter, seducing her, and impregnating her.

"-ter.."

"Huh?" Bree could only muster a weak reply in between her heavy breathing. She was trying to remain beneath the covers to hide her flushed face.

"Master.. Hey there, lassie. It's not like you to be sleeping in so late."

It was Lancer.

Bree remained under the covers of her bed despite having woken up. "Lancer, could you give me some time by myself to prepare?"

"Sure thing, lassie. Don't be taking too long now."

As soon as Lancer left the room, Bree snuck out of the bed to compose herself. The past two nights were the same; Bree experiencing dreams about the circumstances leading to her Servant's birth, and it somehow always ended with that steamy scene in the high tower between two gods.

"Geez. Is it always like this between gods?"

* * *

"We can't be so rash."

Mikhel thumped his fist onto the wall upon seeing the number of Assassins on Caster's canvas monitor, and upon hearing Caster's advice.

"How is this even possible, for there to be so many Assassin class Servants?"

"I don't know. Could this be Assassin's Noble Phantasm?" Caster wondered, stroking her chin. Her azure eyes seemed to reflect Caster's troubled state when Mikhel laid his eyes on them.

"So you think that we should not be trying to go after Emiya Shiro as a result?" Mikhel asked. "We are going to miss this chance to get the job done."

"Casters excel at preparing an ambush, and not for going forward on the offensive, Master."

"You're right," Mikhel replied. "Could we perhaps observe Emiya Shiro further to see where he returns to, then?"

"Of course we can," Caster said, leaning on Mikhel. "That, I shall do right away, Master."

There was a short moment of silence before Caster spoke again.

"So, Master. You had something to discuss with me."

"Ah," Mikhel replied. "About our plans."

"What plan have you devised, Master?"

"Suppose I convince Sir Bram that his Servant is not fit to remain of our alliance, he could possibly sacrifice his Servant and thus pave the way for you to be the last Servant standing," Mikhel said, leaning back on his chair.

Caster said nothing at first, humming as she paced about the workshop. "Perhaps, it could be possible," Caster finally said. "But I wonder if the Master of Rider would come to terms with your proposition."

"I could try to convince him."

"Have you ever been able to convince him?"

Mikhel shook his head slowly. "I've never questioned him throughout my time under his tutelage, but I cannot just let this be and see you disappear from my life like that."

Caster approached Mikhel and embraced him from behind. "I have another proposition should you fail to convince the Master of Rider."

"Please tell me."

"I can get rid of Rider, and pin the blame on the enemy, or if I have to, on Berserker or Lancer. That way, the Master of Rider would have to change his plans and I will offer myself to be the Servant who will obtain the Grail for us."

"E-eh?" Mikhel was slightly perturbed by the suggestion. "Wouldn't it be too risky?"

"You must paint Rider in a bad light to his Master for this plan to work," Caster replied. "But we must gain his trust first."

Their discussion was cut short when Caster's familiar alerted them concerning Shiro's movements.

"It's Archer and the boy," Caster whispered.

"They seem to be leaving the hospital. I wonder what were they doing there."

"It seems Archer is carrying the boy. Is he incapacitated?"

"More importantly, where are they headed to?" Mikhel wondered.

* * *

 _Some time earlier_.

"Hurry, Archer! We're out of time!"

"Sheesh, kid! I'm going as fast as I can! It doesn't help that you're deadweight now!"

Archer sped on toward the hospital. Just before he arrived, Shiro, who had then recovered part of his energy, implored Archer to let him go on ahead. "Keep watch over here while I go rescue Sakura and Shinji!"

"All right then, kid."

Shiro leapt through the open window to Sakura's ward, and found it empty.

"Eh."

Shiro glanced around quickly. His heartbeat was racing and he was on the verge of panicking.

"Damn it. Just where did that old man take her to?"

Shiro's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden entry of a nurse who let out a gasp, sending her tray of medications clattering on the floor.

"W-who are you!? Where have you t-taken the patient!?" The nurse demanded.

"What? She was taken?" Shiro asked, striding towards the nurse. "Who took her!?"

The nurse was trembling in fear as Shiro strode toward her, whimpering when Shiro stood in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders. The nurse finally gathered enough courage to speak after a few attempts by Shiro to obtain the information from her. "She was here just five minutes ago! If it wasn't you, who took her?"

"Damn it!" Shiro cursed under his breath. "I'm going to look for whoever took her!"

Shiro quickly left the room via the window, leaping toward the next building where Archer was stationed.

"Kid! Get over here now!" Archer shouted. Shiro noticed that Archer had his bow drawn and was aiming at someone.

Shiro's eyes narrowed, and his blood boiled at the sight.

There in front of him, were two Assassins, each holding on to Sakura and Shinji respectively. The two Matous were still unconscious in their arms, and a third Assassin stood before the two.

"Release them now, and the lot of you will be spared by us!" Shiro demanded.

"Not unless you forfeit your life here and now," Assassin sneered. "You killed so many of our brethren, and you should pay the price for that!"

Shiro's bow materialised and he took aim at Assassin. "I will count to three!"

"Try us, then!"

"Kid, don't do this," Archer whispered. "I sense something is afoul here."

"What choice do I have?" Shiro hissed in reply. "We need to rescue them!"

"Let's leave. We can renew our search again later," Archer replied. "I doubt that old man would be willing to go so far as to kill his own grandchildren."

"He did threaten us earlier at the mansion," Shiro said.

"Forgive me for delaying to tell you, but I sensed hesitance when that old man threatened to kill that boy there."

"I doubt it," Shiro replied. "Assassin! You have three seconds!"

"Like we said, try us!"

"Three!"

"Kid, no!" Archer said.

"Two!"

"Hey, kid!"

"One! Time's up, Assassin!" Shiro shouted, loosing his arrow toward the Assassin standing at the front.

"Don't do this, kid!"

The split second that it took for the arrow to hit its mark felt like an eternity for Archer. From the time Assassin challenged Shiro to fire, he somehow sensed danger, and his hunch was right.

The Assassin in front was quickly switching places with the Assassin who was holding Shinji hostage. Shiro's arrow was already in mid-flight and he had no way of stopping his arrow. Archer leapt forward in an attempt to try and deflect the arrow, but he was prevented from doing so by Assassin, who leapt forward to block Archer's advancement.

The sickening sound of an arrow piercing human flesh stunned both Shiro and Archer as they beheld the impossible sight before them. Shinji was struck by Shiro's arrow meant for Assassin. As Shinji was already unconscious since the time he stood up to Zouken, he was spared the agony of pain when the arrow struck him. However, when one is struck in such a manner, there was no saving him.

"A-ah.. Ah.. No!" Shiro stammered as he tried to comprehend his decision to fire and the ramifications of this chain of events.

It was here that Assassin attempted to take advantage of the situation. The Assassin who had Sakura quickly disappeared, and the remaining two Assassins moved in to kill Shiro.

"Oi! Kid! Get yourself together!" Archer shouted, his own bow at the ready. Seeing that Shiro was not in the right state of mind to lift a finger in self-defense, Archer took it upon himself to engage Assassin. Releasing a steady stream of arrows, Archer kept Assassin away from Shiro and quickly moved in to occupy the space between them.

Archer's bow elongated and glowed brightly in his hands. Archer nocked his bow and drew it, the arrows glowing and releasing copious amounts of prana in a golden hue.

The two Assassins were quick to realise that Archer was about to use his Noble Phantasm and they charged forward in an attempt to strike Archer before he could use it.

"Too slow," Archer whispered. "Fly, and may Apollo rain gold."

The two Assassins were several feet close to striking him when Archer loosed his arrow.

"Toxo Teukros!"

Archer's Noble Phantasm could mow down an entire army if he so desired. In this case, however, firing at an enemy at such a close range meant that they would bear the full brunt of the attack and they would have no chance of evading or blocking it. It was in this manner that Assassin learned of the futility of trying to engage Archer when he is using his Noble Phantasm. Every single arrow that emerged from Archer's shot found its mark in the two Assassins, and they were completely and utterly ripped into shreds by the sheer number of arrows that struck them.

"Pfah! Surely this is not the last of that annoying Assassin." Archer muttered to himself. He then turned his attention to Shiro, who was in heap, kneeling next to Shinji's body. Tears were streaming down Shiro's face as he sat in silence.

Archer, who originally felt no connection with the blue haired person was suddenly hit with the realisation that he has seen this scene somewhere before in his lifetime.

He remembered it clearly. His brother, lying dead on the sands of Troy's beaches, and Archer kneeling over his brother's body, weeping inconsolably.

Archer fought back the strong emotions that welled up inside him, and grabbed Shiro, attempting to take him back. Shiro resisted briefly before succumbing to his grief and lost the will to resist, allowing Archer to carry him back to the mansion.

* * *

 _Present time._

"Hey, Shiro. What happened out there?" Rin implored, wrapping her arms around Shiro, who was still slumped on the floor. "You have to tell us about it. At least you can let out whatever that bothers you."

Shiro continued to stare dumbly at the floor. To everyone else in the room, it seemed as if all of Shiro's resolve was sapped out of him. More disturbingly, Archer seemed to cut the same demoralised figure, slumped in the corner.

Eventually, it was Archer who spoke up first. "Forgive me. I had to deal with reminders of my past life, after seeing everything that unfolded earlier."

"What happened out there, Archer? What did Shiro mean by 'Shinji is dead'?" Saber asked.

"The kid was tricked into shooting Assassin, but Assassin was holding the two siblings hostage."

Saber's eyes narrowed. "Assassin, that bastard."

"I was aiming at Assassin," Shiro said quietly, his voice quivering. "By the time I realised that Assassin put Shinji in the arrow's path, it was too late."

"Assassin waited until the last possible moment to place the boy into the path of the arrow," Archer elaborated. "I saw it happen, but the arrow was too close for us to intercept it in time.

"What!?" Saber exclaimed. Her face darkened and her eyes were grim at the thought of Assassin doing such a thing.

"I was goaded into shooting," Shiro continued, his voice as quiet as the earlier time. "I-it's my fault.. I should have listened to Archer.."

"Hey Shiro.." Rin pleaded.

"Emiya, it is unfortunate, but it is not you who should be blamed for this," Lord El-Melloi II finally said.

"Sh-shut up! You don't know what I'm going through, am I not wrong?" Shiro snapped.

"I don't claim to know all things, despite my demeanour," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "I have seen some of my students struggle with the same mistakes you made, so I do have something to say about this."

"Lord El-Melloi II, now isn't the time.." Rin whimpered.

"You wield powers that a normal human being cannot have, yet all that which is called a miracle cannot prevent you from experiencing the same things a normal human goes through," Lord El-Melloi II said, kneeling down and grabbing Shiro by the collar. "Therefore you, who wield such powers, will you fall into despair like a normal person would, powerless to change anything? Or will you rise again and strive to make better of your situation?"

"All that power, but I can't bring him back from the dead!" Shiro grunted, pushing Lord El-Melloi II's hand away. "What use is Emiya Shiro if he cannot save the life of even one person?"

"Shiro.." Rin said quietly. "Remember what you told Archer?"

Rin pulled out her pendant hidden under Shiro's black jumpsuit.

"You remember your answer?" Rin asked again.

Shiro still wore a troubled look on his face, but from the way he was staring at the floor, he was deep in thought.

* * *

"How comes it to this?" Matou Zouken asked, his voice betraying his emotion fraught with despair and anger. "I know this grandchild of mine is useless and inept, but he is still carries the Matou blood in him nonetheless!"

"My apologies, Master." Assassin replied, his head bowed. It was that kid you tried to convince. He was the one who put an arrow in his head."

"While you stood by there, not doing anything to take him out from a simple attack like that?"

Assassin couldn't answer. He remained staring dumbly at the floor.

"Your silence makes me think that you had something to do with the death of my grandson, you know?" Zouken snarled.

"I-I wasn't aware, Master. It was difficult to fight that kid and Archer at once."

"You still had the advantage of numbers despite losing 58 of yourselves today!"

"Master, with all due respect, we excel at ambushes and guerilla tactics, not a frontal assault," Assassin replied. "Please accept our apologies for our incompetence."

Zouken glared at Assassin for a moment. "Pfah. I still have a use for you, so it can't be helped if I were to spare you today. Leave me be to grieve for my grandchild."

"Understood, Master. Our apologies once more," Assassin said, leaving Zouken alone in the room.

"I may have shown contempt for you due to your ineptness, Shinji-kun, but know this," Zouken said, looking longingly at the body of his grandson. "I do bear a fondness for you, due to how I looked at your father with fondness."

Crest Worms began to crawl out from Zouken's body. As they made his way towards Shinji's corpse, Zouken spoke again.

"It pains me to revive you like this, but it has to be done. You may not have the soul of my dead grandson anymore, but to see you moving again, is enough to take my grief away. Perhaps, when the Holy Grail is mine, I can wish for your return and for the restoration of the Matou household."


	13. Act 2: Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Oi, Emiya Shiro!"

Shiro got up, startled by the voice that called out to him. He blinked several times, trying to make sense of what he is looking at.

All around Shiro, as far as his eyes could see, was a barren wasteland. The hot, arid air burned his skin and scalded his lungs. The atmosphere was so oppressive, that he couldn't stand upright for very long before crouching again.

It was a strangely familiar sight, though.

Bladed weaponry littered the landscape. They were not the original weapons like the ones seen in Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon, but they were copies of those weapons.

He has seen every one of those weapons before, so it was no surprise as to where he is right at this moment.

Something is different, however.

The sky looked like it was lit on fire, and massive gears were barely seen within the sky, rotating slowly.

"You had me convinced that you had your answer and that you would prove me wrong, Emiya Shiro."

Shiro turned around and stared at the man who spoke. His eyes narrowed as he beheld the man.

"You even look like me now, save for the fact that your hair and skin colour remains yours, unlike myself, who had to endure years of hard work mastering Unlimited Blade Works without any extra help."

"Why are you here?" Shiro asked.

"Hah, I came to look at your sorry self right now," Archer said. "After all that big talk you gave when we last fought, look at you now."

Archer stepped forward and sized up Shiro.

"So, ten years past, hundreds dead in your wake, their souls haunting you at every given opportunity, and now your friend is dead by your hands. What a life you lived these ten years," Archer continued, staring into Shiro's eyes. "Have you now realised that I could have been right all along?"

"I knew that you were right all along," Shiro said. "I believe I told you that I was still going to carry on even though it is impossible."

"So, that begs the question," Archer replied, stepping back from Shiro, raising his hands up to his sides. "Why are you here now? Surely you must have come here out of despair, as I have done so before, and predicted the same for you."

"I'm here because I need to revisit the reason as to why I fight," Shiro whispered.

"Hmph. Do you, now?" Archer goaded. "Is your resolve that easily tested?"

"Not to this point, Archer," Shiro said, walking towards Archer. "I killed innocent blood with my own hands this time. This is why I'm here, seeking a reminder."

"Hmph," Archer replied. "I don't have anything to give to you save for one thing."

"And that is?"

"If you don't strengthen your resolve here due to a mistake you made here and there, you are not helping me either on my end. I have resolved to continue with my purpose here because of the strong resolve in your eyes when we last fought."

Shiro remained quiet as he allowed Archer's words to sink into his mind.

"So you better be fighting on for your ideals, so that I can continue fighting for mine," Archer finished, as his Unlimited Blade Works began to dissipate.

"Ah. You don't have to be telling me that."

* * *

"Shiro! Shiro!"

"Eh? Rin? Where am-"

Shiro couldn't finish his sentence as Rin quickly pressed her lips onto his.

"Hush. You passed out earlier, and Saber helped bring you here."

Shiro's head was still groggy from waking up like that, but despite that, he sat up and rubbed his head.

"I saw _him_ while I was down."

"I'm sure you would have," Rin said quietly. "And I hope you found your answer again."

"Uh.. yeah," Shiro replied. "I have."

"I'm sorry we couldn't be of any help for earlier," Rin said, wearing a downcast look on her face."

"It's okay. Assassin is far more crafty than I thought."

"I wonder how Sakura is going to feel when she discovers that Shinji is dead," Rin wondered aloud.

"I don't know how she will react if she finds out that Shinji died because of my mistake," Shiro replied. "I'm definitely going to make sure Assassin pays for this with his life."

* * *

"Master of Rider, I believe we have found the lair of your enemy."

Bram closed the book he was reading and looked at Caster. "Well done. I suppose it's time to attack them."

"Sir Bram, you don't suppose that Rider would cooperate with us for this, do you?" Mikhel asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"We are certain that everyone from Lord El-Melloi II's faction is in that mansion, and asking me, Viola, and Bree to attack it would be sufficient, no?" Mikhel explained.

Bram paused for a moment as he reflected on the things Mikhel said, and on the things Rider told him.

"It's fine. I will lead the attack. The three of you will remain behind to observe. You should find the right time to strike at Emiya Shiro," Bram finally said.

"Wait, Sir Bram, what if Rider does not comply?"

"He will," Bram replied, motioning for Mikhel and Caster to leave the room.

Not too long after Bram's room door was shut, Rider appeared before Bram.

"I shall lead the attack myself, as you have requested of me," Bram told Rider. "Does this please you?"

"That remains to be seen," Rider replied. "Let's go. I shall see if you truly understand the message I conveyed to you."

Just before Bram departed, he gathered Viola and Bree.

"Rider and I will attack Lord El-Melloi II's base of operations now, while the two of you will wait for an opportunity to provide support with your Servants. I have already issued Mikhel an order to take Emiya Shiro out from the fight, so you shouldn't be too troubled by Emiya Shiro's.. intrusion."

"Sir Bram, if I may ask, did Rider agree to this plan?" Viola asked.

"Let's just say Rider and I have come to an understanding," Bram replied simply. "Let's go. Time to put a stop to their plans once and for all."

* * *

"Caster. How are we to go with our plans now? I never thought that Sir Bram would go himself," Mikhel told Caster. He appeared troubled, judging by the way he paced the room.

"Patience, my Master. Initially, I assumed the worst, like you, but on the contrary, this is a good time to observe Rider's capabilities," Caster replied. "Aren't we supposed to be heading out too?"

"Yes, we should. Do observe Rider, if possible. But I will need your support when I engage with Emiya Shiro. Judging by how he easily kept a Servant as powerful as Berserker at bay, I don't think his so-called 'Magus Apprentice' level befits his true power."

"I concur with your insight, Master," Caster said, putting her arm around Mikhel. Master and Servant both disappeared from the room as they teleported to the position they were meant to be at.

* * *

"Master, I sense an imminent attack by the opposing faction," Archer told Luvia.

"Understood, Archer. I will alert the others. Good work."

Luvia burst out of her room and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Lord El-Melloi II! Miss Gorilla! Bram and his faction is approaching!"

"Saber! Are you ready?" Rin called out.

"I'm prepared, Rin." Saber got up from the kneeled position she was in, her battle armour materialising on her body.

"Good. Let's go to the front door," Rin replied, opening the door.

"Luvia-san, take Archer and check the rear. I'll sneak away and position myself a distance away where I can lend support to you and Rin at the same time," Shiro said. "Lord El-Melloi II, what is _your_ plan?"

"I'll follow either Tohsaka or Edelfelt, considering that I am probably going to need some protection from you all," Lord El-Melloi II replied.

"You'd probably be relatively safe if your opponent is either Konig-san or mac Branain-san, since they would very likely refrain from attacking a lecturer as popular as you," Shiro quipped, leaping through the window and away from the house.

"Ceh, this is no time for wisecracks, numbskull."

"Rin. That Servant standing in front of us. It's Rider!" Saber told Rin. "Stay behind me, Rin."

"If it isn't Tohsaka Rin!" Bram exclaimed. "Tell me, what is it about Lord El-Melloi II that compels you to do his bidding?"

"Nothing," Rin replied. "I know the true nature of the Grail, and that alone compels me to dismantle it."

"Oh, but how would you even know of its true power when you never actually got your hands on it?"

"I won the previous Grail War, remember?" Rin said, grinning. "I saw first hand what the Grail could do despite it being incomplete. What more when it is really complete."

"Rin, I scanned that Servant already. He is quite a formidable opponent," Saber whispered.

"Wonderful. We just need to test his power from here on, right?" Rin asked.

"Perhaps. My Noble Phantasm is ready if you require it," Saber replied.

"Were you not listening to me, Tohsaka Rin?" Bram said angrily.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Sir Bram. I wasn't paying you any attention. Feel free to dock some points off my exam," Rin replied nonchalantly. "It's not like your lessons are of any challenge to me."

"You arrogant vixen!" Bram snarled. "How dare you address your lecturer in this manner?"

"How dare I? Perhaps it is because I am no longer a student in the Clock Tower, but a Fellow of the Association. Therefore it should technically mean that we are peers now, am I not wrong?"

"I will make sure you pay for that insolence when I am through with you, Tohsaka!"

"Saber, he's properly riled up now. Prepare to meet the attack of Rider," Rin whispered.

* * *

"Ugh. This isn't going to be good for us now. Right, Archer?"

"Perhaps," Archer replied. "On the bright side, I am very familiar with _onii-sama_ 's combat moves, plus I have some experience dealing with that Lancer now, after our previous confrontation."

"Nevertheless, a two-on-one situation.."

"It may be a one-to-one situation," Archer replied. "See, my _onii-sama's_ Master seems to be retreating."

"Huh?"

"I wouldn't want to raise my hand against my _onii-sama_ , and he definitely feels the same way concerning me," Archer said.

Luvia turned to look at Berserker, who seemed frozen in place. Viola was standing before Berserker, looking as if she was trying to get Berserker to retreat.

"H-how is this possible?" Luvia demanded.

"Berserkers may have lost their sanity, but there have been cases where they do the unexpected when they see someone who they share a past with," Lord El-Melloi II said, emerging from the house.

"Lord El-Melloi II! What are you doing out here?" Luvia exclaimed.

"Emiya Shiro suggested I stay close to either you or Tohsaka Rin," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "Seeing that Tohsaka Rin is facing Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, I thought that it would be better if I am not seen by him. He might be enraged."

"You don't have a Servant to protect you, and Archer can't protect myself and you at the same time," Luvia said.

"Emiya Shiro is already hidden somewhere. He can observe the entire battlefield from wherever he is, and he should be able to lend support wherever he is needed," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "Also, haven't you forgotten that Trimmau is with me?"

"Eh," Luvia said dumbly. Of course she remembered. Trimmau was the reason why they were delayed for a long time at the airport several days ago, despite her being stored in a vial for obvious reasons.

"Oi, Luviagelita Edelfelt. Are you done talking?" Bree asked. "I originally thought of attacking you no matter what, but it doesn't sit well with Lancer. He wants you to be prepared."

"Oh? A fair fight it is, then?" Archer asked, stepping forward. Well then, I shall gladly oblige."

"I'm glad it turned out this way. I was afraid Berserker over there would be participating in this fight too, but it seems that he has some trouble accepting the fact that he has to kill his own brother," Lancer said, pointing at Berserker, who was still frozen in place, while Viola was still desperately trying to get Berserker to move.

"I can't bring myself to raise my hand against _onii-sama_ myself, so that means I would be more than satisfied to test myself against you," Archer said, drawing his bow.

"Heh, very well." Lancer replied, spear materialising in his hands.

* * *

"Caster! What's gotten into you?" Mikhel demanded. Ever since Caster laid eyes on Rider's opponent, she couldn't stop laughing.

"This is pleasing for me!" Caster said. "I know that the Master of Rider intends to have the boy taken out of the battle, but I feel that our plans have changed."

"Huh? Caster, whatever you said is incomprehensible," Mikhel said.

"That girl over there," Caster replied. "The one that is called Saber. She is in fact my sister!"

"What?" Mikhel said dumbly.

"Fate has smiled on me! I was denied the opportunity of a complete revenge in the past, but now, I have another chance to finish this!" Caster said, her face seemingly twisted to the point that her dazzling beauty became that of a demon.

Mikhel shuddered at the sight of Caster, but nevertheless, he steeled himself. He read all about the legends of King Arthur before, and the name Morgan Le Fay popped up once in a while. Back then, his mental image of Morgan Le Fay was that of an old hag, as what he imagined most witches would look like, but when he laid his eyes on her at the night of her summoning, he was ensnared right away. The way Caster looked this time was more befitting of the mental image he had before her summoning, but perhaps, if she got her wish of remaining in this time with him, she could finally be rid of such a hideous look once and for all.

"Oh, Master of Rider. I must tell you that I wish to join this fight for now," Caster said, sauntering up to Bram.

"Oi, Caster! I believe your instructions were clear! You were supposed to ensure Emiya Shiro does not participate in this battle, whether by keeping him busy, or killing him!" Bram replied angrily. It was already bad enough for him that Rin was goading him to fight, and now it is Caster who decided to interfere with this fight.

"Master of Rider, perhaps you may actually perceive the wisdom of my doing so," Caster replied. "That Servant Saber standing before you?" Caster continued, pointing at Saber. "She is my sister, Arturia Pendragon! And I shall be the one who kills her!"

Bram could not reply as his mouth was agape. He heard the rumours before concerning the identity of King Arthur, but he did not believe even a shred of those rumours. This time, he is forced to believe it.

* * *

Shiro swallowed hard. He was aware from the onset that Rin and Luvia were going to be outnumbered. And even though he was told by Lord El-Melloi II to do whatever he had to do in order to turn the tide of battle their way, he had to figure out how best to go about it.

All he could do now was to wait at his perch atop one of the buildings in the shopping district. It wasn't the tallest building in the city, unlike the skyscrapers at the Shinto district where he fought Berserker recently. Nonetheless, as long as he had a good view of the battlefield, it would suffice.

He noted that Lord El-Melloi II was with Luviagelita and Archer. Owing to the fact that Bram might be a more dangerous opponent if he saw Lord El-Melloi II, it was a logical choice to not be seen by Bram. Also, Lord El-Melloi II wasn't totally defenseless as he brought Trimmau with him. Exactly how reliable that crazy multi-purpose golem maid is in battle remains something that Shiro cannot comprehend. Perhaps he would finally be able to see just how useful it could be for the first time.

On the other side of the battlefield, his wife Rin was facing Bram. Mikhel also seemed to be joining the fight with his Servant Caster. Shiro couldn't help but notice Saber's face darkening. The only other time he's ever seen Saber sporting such a look was when she saw Gilgamesh for the first time ever since the Fourth Grail War.

Something was definitely amiss.

* * *

"Hey, Saber. What's wrong?" Rin asked. "You seem very disturbed the moment you saw Caster."

"The identity of that Caster is unmistakable," Saber replied, her grip on Excalibur tightening. "She has been my nemesis for a very long time."

"As far as the legends go, it's Morgan Le Fay, right?" Rin replied.

"Indeed, she is," Saber replied. "However, our relationship runs very deep," Saber continued.

"Huh?" Rin asked, puzzled at the statement Saber made.

"Morgan Le Fay is my younger sister."

"Wait, what did you say!?" Rin exclaimed.

"Fu fu fu… Beloved sister!" Caster said. "Why, am I pleasantly surprised to see you again!"

"Morgan..!" Saber replied with clenched teeth.

"I was afraid that I may never get to finish whatever I started, but it seems that we can pick up from where we left of the last time."

"You incorrigible.. scum! I knew that the plot to seize the throne from me was all of your conjuring!" Saber replied angrily.

"Well then, feel free to continue this little feud of ours, sister!" Caster replied, laughing.


	14. Act 3: Chapter 1

**ACT III**

 **Chapter 1**

The sound of clashing steel permeated the air around the house and its surrounding grounds, but yet, those sounds were not heard anywhere beyond the perimeter of the house due to the presence of a Bounded Field which prevented outsiders from stumbling upon a secret battle royale that existed over hundreds of years.

The tip of Lancer's spear drew red arcs in the air. There was something about the way Lancer swung his spear around that showed a delicate mix of elegance and ferocity. Despite that, Lancer was actually on the defensive due to Archer's incessant flurry of shots aimed at Lancer.

"You seem to be trying to prevent me from attacking, Archer," Lancer said, casting a grin at Archer.

"Why, of course," Archer replied. "Ever since we learned your identity, I for one am very careful of your abilities. It's strange that a god would actually be summoned as a Heroic Spirit!"

"Indeed it is," Lord El-Melloi II mused to himself. Lugh was a very powerful being during his time. Also, it was extremely strange that a god would be summoned because beings with high divinity are not supposed to be considered as Heroic Spirits. More worryingly, this god possessed a very dangerous Noble Phantasm. Shiro may not have had the time to trace the spear to learn of its capabilities, but Lord El-Melloi II knew at least one thing; a god's Noble Phantasm would be something of a different level altogether if pitted against a Noble Phantasm belonging to a mere mortal or even a demigod.

"You flatter me," Lancer replied thrusting his spear into the ground. "Indeed I have quite the reputation as a warrior in the past."

"That's not answering the question," Archer replied, lowering his bow. "Upon my summoning, I understood that gods cannot be summoned to participate in this war," Archer continued. "So, either the stories about you being a god is not true, or you lost your divinity at some point in your life."

"I like people like you, Archer. You're very perceptive, despite your looks."

Archer's blue eyes gleamed as he raised his bow again. "Flatter me all you want, but I'm not convinced that you should even be summoned."

Lancer sighed and raised his arms up. "Fine, I give. You showed me your Noble Phantasm already, so I should offer something in return-"

"Lancer! What on earth are you doing giving information to your enemy?" Bree interrupted, grabbing Lancer's arm.

"Relax, lassie," Lancer replied nonchalantly. "I'm only answering his question. It's not like I'm revealing anything about my weakness."

"But still.."

"Like I said, lassie. Relax," Lancer repeated, patting Bree on the head. Turning to Archer, he began to speak. "You see, laddie, it is indeed true that I am a god, at least according to the legends about me. But nobody seems to have known the circumstances surrounding my death."

"Your... death?" Bree asked.

"Indeed. I discovered that one of my wives was having an affair, so I searched for that man and killed that pitiful sod. However, his children laid their hands on me and drowned me in a mystical pool, which stripped me of my godhood."

"Eh, so you were stripped of your divinity? Is that the reason why you are able to be summoned?" Lord El-Melloi II asked.

Lancer picked his spear up. "Indeed, that may be the case," he replied. "Now then, we have gotten to know each other a little more. Now let's determine who is the better warrior!"

Archer raised his bow up again. "I'd be obliged to accept, but god or no, your Noble Phantasm is something I do not know of, and I do not intend to leave you an opening to use it on me!"

"Ah, now it's me who is flattered," Lancer replied, spinning his spear casually. "I would have been able to use it regardless of whether I was under attack or not. It's just that my Noble Phantasm requires a lot of prana to power it, which is something I no longer possess, due to my lost divinity. However, I can do it, perhaps once or twice in a battle, so if you actually desire for me to show you what my true power is, you're welcome to try it!" Lancer goaded.

"Perhaps not!" Archer replied. "I don't know what it is, but I imagine that it is a very powerful attack nonetheless."

"So now, we are stuck in an impasse, Archer. You do not wish for me to use my Noble Phantasm, and you can't land a hit on me with yours. And also, Berserker doesn't look like he wishes to lay a hand on you." Lancer rested his spear on his shoulder as he relaxed. "I'm afraid I have to either call it a draw here, or must use my Noble Phantasm. It's my Master's call here."

* * *

"Saber is King Arthur?" Bram asked, still surprised at how the legendary King of Britannia would appear to be a girl barely out of her teens as the rumours said. "But nonetheless, I believed your task was to support your Master in engaging with Emiya Shiro!"

"Master of Rider," Caster replied, her countenance darkening even further. Her once beautiful form and appearance was no more. In its place, a dark and menacing aura surrounded her, and her eyes seemed to pierce the soul of whoever looked upon it. "This is a personal feud between my sister and I. As such, I do not wish for anyone to interfere with this. That includes you, whom I have an alliance with," Caster replied.

Bram swallowed. It was clear that Caster would put an end to any interference from himself, and Rider would not be spared from being attacked by Caster. "Fine, then!" Bram replied. "Carry on your little family feud here. I will not offer you any assistance, so if you fall here, you have nobody to blame but yourself!"

Caster scoffed. "Don't you think me weak compared to my sister. She may have the physical prowess, but it is I who has the means to defeat her!"

Bram did not reply. Instead he turned around to face Rider, who was unmoved by the events that happened earlier. "We shall withdraw from this battle, Rider. Instead, we will go and search for Emiya Shiro and fight him."

Rider said nothing at first when Bram got onto Rider's horse, but while they were scouring the surrounding areas in search for Shiro, Rider finally spoke.

"A word of advice, boy. You should be wary of Caster."

"Indeed I should," Bram replied, his voice seething with anger. "That woman truly messed up my plans!"

"That is not what I speak of, boy," came Rider's reply. "I sense treachery in Caster. If you value your life, and if you wish to win this war, you must kill her."

"What?" Bram exclaimed. "That is impossible!"

"You've also fallen under her spell, boy." Rider replied. "Caster has already weaved her web of deceit onto every one who is following you as well. If you listen to me, you will not only win this war, but also leave this war with your life intact."

"Why are you so confident in saying that?" Bram asked.

"I speak from experience, boy," Rider replied. Just then, he stopped his horse and pointed towards a tall building. "The target you have asked me to seek stands before us."

Bram squinted. They were still a ways off from the place that Rider pointed out, but he could barely make out the silhouette of a man standing on the roof of the building, with a bow in his hands.

It was Emiya Shiro.

"Good. Let's keep him busy. Kill him if you can-"

Bram's sentence was not completed when an explosion rocked the sky. Shiro had preemptively struck with a shot from his bow, which Rider deflected with his sword. When the fire and smoke dissipated, Shiro was nowhere to be found.

"Cheh, he's leading us on a goose hunt," Rider scoffed. "We have to renew our search."

* * *

"Damn, I can't lend any support to anyone now that Rider is on me," Shiro thought as he made his escape, jumping off the roof of the building and making his way through the streets towards the river. He tried his best to remain out of sight as he sought a new vantage point on the bridge. With Rider hot on his heels, he may end up back at the mansion if he had to continue providing support and still be able to fight against a Servant.

For now, as he arrived at the banks of the river, he had to shake off Rider's pursuit and get to the bridge, which was several meters further down the river. If Rider spotted him at his second vantage point, he would have no choice but to return to the mansion and participate in the battle directly.

"Found you!" Rider bellowed, charging at Shiro.

"Damn!" Shiro cursed. How Rider was able to locate him so soon did not make any sense, but he had to turn and fight.

"You think I cannot find my target so easily, huh?" Rider said. "I sacked countless cities in my time so pursuing a fleeing target is a simple task for me."

"Ugh, well then, you got me," Shiro replied, tracing Kansho and Bakuya. "Well then, since the chase is over, you will have to fight me before you can declare me caught."

A wry smile formed on Rider's face. "You think a mere human would dare to face me?"

"Careful, Rider. He managed to make Berserker retreat once," Bram warned Rider.

"I'm not Berserker, kid," Rider replied, dismounting from his horse. "You dismount and stand aside," Rider continued. "I shall cut this kid down now."

Shiro was quick to launch into an attack, hoping to catch Rider off guard, but Rider was also quick to block Shiro's attack.

"Hah, you hoped to cut me down before we even began, huh?" Rider goaded as Shiro quickly retreated out of Rider's range.

Shiro wasted no time in making his next move. Tracing his bow again, Shiro attempted to fire a barrage of shots at Rider, hoping to keep Rider pinned in one place as Shiro sought to gain more distance between them.

Despite Rider's efforts to close the distance, Shiro's constant shooting made it difficult for Rider to advance forward.

"Oi, Rider! What are you doing? Take this fight seriously!" Bram demanded.

"Hmph," Rider scoffed. "That boy seems to know full well that he has no chance fighting me face to face. It is evident in how much distance he is trying to place between us."

"I don't care how!" Bram replied impatiently. "Emiya Shiro poses a threat to our plan!"

"If you wish for me to fight seriously, it is going to mean that I will use my Noble Phantasm to instantly close the distance between us for me to gain the upper hand," Rider replied.

"Fine, then. Use your Noble Phantasm to close the distance to Emiya Shiro!"

Rider wasted no time in releasing his prana as he called for his horse. A sharp whistle pierced the air, which was followed by the sound of thundering hooves. Bram looked on as Rider's horse galloped at full speed towards Rider. Never before had he seen such a display of strength and elegance embodied in one being; at least not until this moment. Rider's horse did not slow down or break his stride as he charged onwards past Rider, who grabbed the reins of the horse and mounted the horse effortlessly despite the fact that the horse was in full gallop.

The air was thick as Rider's horse began to emit a greenish aura. The ground beneath the horse began to change, as the illusion of a grassland took shape on it. Rider leaned forward and spoke to his horse.

"Charge onward, and may our enemies fall in your wake."

The horse's countenance seemed to change as the muscles began to bulge slightly, while the aura that was emitting from the horse consolidated around the horse and its rider. Shiro was quick to notice this as he quickly traced Caladbolg II and nocked the sword to his bow.

"I am the bone of my sword."

Rider scoffed at Shiro's effort. "You fool, none can withstand the might of my charge, and you will be no different." Tightening his grip on the reins, Rider's voice bellowed as he called on his Noble Phantasm:

"Othar!"

The horse charged forward at speeds that were impossible for a horse to achieve, if it wasn't for the fact that this horse was unlike any other horse. It was said that one man was able to forge an empire unlike any other from the back of this mighty beast. None could withstand the powerful charge of his armies who fought on horseback, but this horse stood above and beyond the other horses in the army, and was aptly chosen by this man who led the most powerful mounted army ever seen by man. The gap between Rider and Shiro was closing very quickly, but Shiro was already prepared to fire.

"Caladbolg!"

The sword loosed by Shiro was also quick to find its mark, resulting in an explosion that shook the area around them.

Rider was unscathed by the attack due to his Noble Phantasm's unique ability: Othar - the Stallion that Rends the Heavens. Without breaking stride, Rider barreled on toward Shiro, who wore a stunned look on his face. With the distance closing rapidly, Shiro had only one option left in order to survive Rider's attack.

"I got you now!" Rider said as he drew within striking distance of Shiro. Rider raised his sword as it began to crackle as prana was gathered at the tip.

Shiro closed his eyes and focused his energy onto producing the only defensive armament he could use efficiently. He would have preferred if he didn't have to use it, considering that he would have to spend more of his prana onto using it, but given the circumstances he was in, walking away from this fight was far more important.

Rider pointed his sword at Shiro, and the prana which was gathered at the tip of the sword reached its maximum charge.

"Isten Kardja!"

Rider's Noble Phantasm: Isten Kardja - the Sword of Mars, delivered an attack that spread out from the tip of the sword in a cone, destroying everything that was caught in its range. For Shiro, it looked almost like an attack used by Saber, but the difference was that Saber's attack had a far more focused beam compared to this almost haphazard release of energy.

Shiro's outstretched right hand tensed up as he recited the incantation he used regularly to strengthen the use of his ability.

"I am the bone of my sword."

In the moment when Rider was executing his attack, Shiro called upon the famous shield.

"Rho Aias!"

The traced shield began to take shape at the end of his outstretched arm, its sevenfold barriers quickly forming a powerful barrier around him. The prana release also began to spread out and take the shape of a seven petaled flower before him. With the use of Rho Aias, Shiro was able to mitigate the brunt of the blast. However, Shiro had to sustain some injuries to his arm because of the sheer power of the attack, which was able to shatter four of the seven petals spread out in front of Shiro.

This time, Rider was the one who wore a surprised look on his face. Dismounting from his horse, he stood before Shiro, who was in a crouched position on the ground, holding his injured arm.

"You're the first to survive my attack, kid. An entire army would not have stood a chance against that."

"You're also the first to survive mine, Rider," Shiro replied. "So the both of us possess an ability that granted us absolute defense, which means that we're stuck in a fight that neither of us can win. Shall we call it a draw, then?"

"Hah, I wouldn't hope for such an outcome," Rider replied. "My Master has ordered me to keep you out of the battle, and if I had to kill you, I must."

Shiro held his uninjured hand up. "As you can see, Rider, I cannot participate in any battle any further. You have fulfilled your Master's orders, have you not?"

"Hmph. Point taken," Rider replied, turning away from the battle.

"I have to say, you were quite a formidable opponent in this fight. Even more so than Berserker or Assassin, Rider," Shiro said. "Or should I call you… Attila the Hun?"

Rider stopped. Without turning to face Shiro, Rider spoke after a brief silence. "So you recognise who I am?"

"That sword of yours is unmistakable, despite the fact that I only came across some written records kept in the Clock Tower," Shiro replied. "Anyway, this fight was a good one, Rider."

"I wouldn't say the same," Rider replied. "All you did was to keep your distance and you called for a draw when you realised you were unable to defeat me."

"What can I say, Rider?" Shiro scoffed. "A mere human taking on a Servant? Like I said earlier, your orders have been carried out perfectly, so there is no reason to continue, no?"

"Hmph," Rider scoffed in return. "For lacking so much in a warrior's pride, you certainly know how to survive your battles." With that, Rider continued to walk away as Bram was seen running towards the scene of the fight.

"Hey, wait a minute! I said that we need to keep Emiya Shiro out of the fight!"

"He won't fight anymore, boy," Rider replied. "I've broken one of his arms and he has already surrendered."

"Eh," Bram replied, staring at Shiro, who was now seated on the ground. The riverbank around them was scorched by the earlier exchange, and bits of rubble from the upturned sidewalk was strewn all over the place. However, among all these rubble, Bram noticed something strange in one place. Walking over to that place, he looked at the ground.

There was a blockage of prana underneath the surface here.

"Rider, I need you to tear a hole in the ground right over here."

"W-wait. No, you can't do that!" Shiro exclaimed, struggling to get up on his feet.

"Now, Rider. The fact that Emiya Shiro over here does not want me to do so means that Lord El-Melloi II is hiding something over here!"

Shiro struggled as he strode toward Bram, and placed his hand on Bram's shoulder, trying to push him away. "You can't do this, Bram!"

"Rider! Do it now! If Emiya Shiro continues to be a nuisance to us, kill him!"

"You don't understand, Bram!"

Rider's sword began to glow again as prana gathered at the tip of the sword. Aiming it at the ground, Rider shot another burst of energy at the ground, which blew a gaping hole in the ground, kicking dirt and rock up all over the place, and knocking Bram and Shiro down to the ground. Bram got up first and walked quickly to the hole, looking into it.

"Oho, so this is what you have been up to, Lord El-Melloi II."

There in the ground placed carefully on the leyline was the device that Lord-El Melloi II used to disrupt the flow of prana in the city. Destroying these regulators would allow for the Grail to be summoned as usual.

"I have to say, Emiya Shiro, you have done me a great favour," Bram said, turning to Shiro. "Granted, you did not mean for me to discover your plans, but you already have. For that, I shall spare your life here. You've done the Association a great deal of service by ensuring that the Grail be brought back to the Association, whereby it will be put to good use."

"Ugh, no. Bram, that Grail is dangerous to us all!" Shiro said angrily, tracing Bakuya in his good arm. Rider was quick to knock the sword away from Shiro's hand, and stepped on Shiro's hand to ensure that he wouldn't be able to attack again.

"Know your place, kid. Your life has already been spared, so it would be wise not to throw it away," Rider said to Shiro.

"Rider! The Grail isn't what is was supposed to be anymore! Don't allow your Master to destroy these regulators! Bram! You have to listen!"

"Let's go, Rider. We have to locate and destroy these things to ensure that we will be able to earn our prize," Bram told Rider, ignoring Shiro's pleas. "We can start by destroying the one over here."


	15. Act 3: Chapter 2

**Author's Note**

 _Hey guys, it's been a while since my last chapter. To those who have been faithfully following the updates, thank you all. It really means a lot for me, this being my first fanfic and all._

 _I must announce that I will be taking a hiatus for slightly over a month because I am heading off for a long vacation to San Francisco. I hope you'll be patient as you wait for the next chapter to be added to this fic. Hope to see you all again in 2016. =)_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

The air was tense as Lancer's spear ignited, and flames began enveloping both the spear and Lancer himself. The heat generated by the spear was intense that Bree had to step away from Lancer, and shield her face from the oppressive heat.

"This is not good!" Archer exclaimed, and promptly made his move. He was somehow able to sense the impending danger that they were in thanks to the massive power surging from Lancer's spear. The bow in Lancer elongated and emitted a golden hue as he prepared to fire his Noble Phantasm again.

"A-are you sure this is a good idea?" Luvia asked in an uncomfortable tone.

"It's either I fire first to keep him from launching his attack, or we all die! Master! Lord El-Melloi II! Shield your eyes now!"

Archer's quick reply was understood immediately by Luvia as she gave the order for Archer to preemptively strike at Lancer, and quickly covered her eyes. Lord El-Melloi II was also quick to turn away from facing Lancer just as Archer fired his bow.

"Fly now and strike your foe with Apollo's might."

Lancer's ignited spear seemed to be at the ready, and Archer knew that time was not on his side. Before Lancer could get himself into his stance to activate his Noble Phantasm, Archer fired first.

"Toxo Teukros!"

The golden arrow left Archer's bow, releasing a golden beam of sunlight as it took flight, heading straight towards Lancer's torso. The arrow's flight was swift and deadly, and the beam of light that was traced by the arrow as it flew was bright and its heat seared everything in its path.

Lancer was forced to abort his attack and quickly dodge out of the way, grabbing Bree as he moved away. The arrow shot by Archer exploded in mid air, letting out a blinding flash of light as if one was looking directly at the sun. Lancer was able to get away from the explosion together with Bree, but the resulting flash of light caused Lancer's back to be burnt by the heat. Bree, who was protected by Lancer, did feel the heat from the flash, but she was spared from being burned by it.

"I say, Archer. That was some attack you had there. I didn't know you had something else up your sleeve there!" Lancer exclaimed, setting Bree down on the ground. "Lassie, you'll need to heal my back, since I did you the favour of protecting you from that blast."

"Eh. Ah, yes!" Bree replied dumbfoundedly as she cast a healing spell on Lancer, healing the burns on his back.

"Damn, that was my fastest attack there," Archer said, his voice betraying his frustration. The attack that he used the first time he faced Lancer was more suited to taking out multiple enemies, but Lancer was able to deflect the attacks due to its decreased speed in exchange for its massive area of effect. This one, however, sacrificed all its coverage in order to gain speed and striking power. Even that attack was not able to hit Lancer directly. Despite losing his divinity upon his death, Lancer was still a formidable opponent who wielded a very powerful, yet relatively unknown Noble Phantasm.

* * *

Never before in her life did Viola Dajanna Konig, one of the more promising students of the Clock Tower, feel like she was helpless. Berserker, who was already a handful for her to bring under control upon his summoning, was now standing still, unmoved due to whatever psychological stress he experienced upon seeing his brother standing opposite him in the field of battle.

"I thought you lost all your sanity due to the effects of your Mad Enhancement!" Viola grumbled. It may have been true that Berserkers lose their sanity as a result of that trait, but based on rumors and reports that she gleaned about past Grail Wars, Berserkers who meet an opponent which they shared a deep connection in the past could react in strange ways. Perhaps, standing rooted in one spot was the strangest of them all.

"You do not wish to engage in a fight with your brother, do you now?" Viola said quietly, trying to hide her frustration. "Perhaps, all I can do is to just wait until Lancer dispatches Archer and be done with this."

Viola's thoughts were interrupted when a bright flash lit up the sky, drawing her attention to it.

"What could be happening between Lancer and Archer, I wonder?"

Berserker was also drawn by the flash of light, and his head was turned toward the source of the flash.

"...ghhhhhh... uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…"

"Berserker?" Viola wondered. She waited on, tensed up as she tried to make sense of what was happening, while hoping that Berserker would not suddenly rush off. It took a long time and a lot of effort for her to bring him under her control, and she did not relish the thought of losing control over something that she worked so hard to gain.

A red flame was seen rising up from the location where the light flashed earlier. From where Viola was standing, she was unable to get a good look at the source of the red flame but it was nonetheless a sight to behold. Before long, the red flame leapt forward as it surged on towards the mansion with great speed.

It was at this time where Viola heard a deep throated roar. Turning to face the source of the roar, she was stunned beyond belief to see Berserker move again so suddenly. To make matters more difficult for Viola, Berserker leapt forward, abandoning her and rushing onward towards the leaping red flame.

* * *

Lancer's red eyes were ablaze as he lit his spear again. "I survived your attack, Archer. It's my turn to test your might."

The red flames continued to surge as Lancer took aim with his spear. Getting into position, Lancer wound himself up for the shot.

"I have your heart."

The red flame from Lancer's spear burned bright as he prepared to throw the spear. Archer, who saw what was about to happen, quickly tried to fire his bow again, but it was too little, too late.

"Brionac!"

Lancer cast his legendary spear towards Archer, the spear spewing red flames as it hurtled towards him. Brionac: the Five Roaring Stars was a dangerous weapon which could pierce the heart of the target no matter what the target did. It was an attack that could not be dodged, and Archer was now a target of its deadly attack.

Everything that happened in the moments following Lancer's attack felt like it all transpired in a blink of an eye, but everyone was taken by surprise at the impossible sight before their eyes.

The flaming spear was met with a seven layered shield bursting forth with prana, forming seven petals of a flower. The clashing prana from both spear and shield painted the surroundings with an explosion of red. As the participants and spectators of the battle recomposed themselves after that explosion, the impossible sight was then compounded with this latest development.

Berserker stood between Lancer and Archer, skewered through his chest by the spear of Lancer. Behind Berserker, Archer stood stunned by what happened. Despite Berserker's valiant effort to shield his brother, Archer was also hit in the chest by Lancer's spear, and sustained a severe wound. Whether by luck or by some coincidence, both brothers were still alive, but Berserker was in far worse shape compared to Archer.

"An attack of such power… is impossible!" Luvia exclaimed.

"B-Berserker! W-why did he.." Viola stammered as she arrived at the scene to witness the sight.

Lancer sighed. "It's unfortunate, but Berserker somehow managed to lessen the impact of Brionac."

"I knew your attack would be a powerful one, which was the reason why I preemptively attacked you," Archer said slowly, coughing out blood in between words. "To think that this is the extent of your power… You are truly a dangerous opponent."

"Truth be told, I held back a little," Lancer replied. "I can't risk everything into one attack, especially if I know that my Master still has other enemies to vanquish."

" _Onii-sama_ …" Archer said, reaching out to Berserker, whose breathing was laboured. "Your beloved shield was the only shield capable of stopping Hector's javelin, but this attack was something else altogether."

Berserker, despite having been skewered by Brionac, was not bleeding heavily since the heat from the spear cauterised the wound. However, the heat also burned his body from the inside, and he was left in a grave state.

Viola soon came out of her stunned state and rushed over to Berserker's side. "Berserker, you fool…" was all she could muster as she assessed the condition of her Servant.

"By the authority of my Command Seal, I command you to return to me."

Berserker began to fade into his ethereal form, which allowed him to return to Viola despite his grave injury. Satisfied that she was able to retrieve Berserker, Viola turned around and was about to walk away when she was stopped from doing so.

"Stop right there, Viola Dajanna Konig."

Viola turned to face Lord El-Melloi II.

"I'm afraid that I have to prevent you from leaving," Lord El-Melloi continued. Trimmau was also there standing beside Lord El-Melloi II.

"Or else your maid golem is going to attack me?" Viola replied coldly. "I'm sorry, Lord El-Melloi II. At the Clock Tower, I would have done anything you asked, but this place is a battlefield."

"A pointless battlefield, Viola," Luvia continued. "The Holy Grail is corrupted-"

"Spare yourselves from telling me this," Viola interrupted. "Emiya-san tried to tell this to me too before he attacked my Berserker."

"But Viola…"

"I wouldn't try to stop me from leaving this place," Viola continued. "Your Archer barely survived Lancer's attack thanks to my Berserker having a sense of brotherhood still intact although he lost his sanity, and I doubt that you have a conceivable way to stop Lancer from attacking again," Viola said, pointing at Lancer, who was standing casually a small distance away.

"Then I say you and Bree mac Branain should call this a draw and we all retreat for the night, no?" Lord El-Melloi II replied.

"Sir Bram did order us to destroy your Servants, so we won't leave until Archer here is killed, and then Saber as well."

"Ugh, this is not good," Luvia muttered.

"I-I can try my best to hold Lancer off, but in my current state, it's best that you and Lord El-Melloi II retreat while I hold Lancer off," Archer said weakly.

"N-no, Archer," Luvia stammered. "I'm staying right here to help as best I can. I can still use healing spells t-to support you."

"Look at you, Master. Acting tough when you're terrified," Archer quipped before coughing out blood.

"Guh, Archer!"

"Oh? It seems that Sir Bram has called for us," Bree said, calling out to Viola. "He found something very interesting and is calling for us to rejoin on him at the bridge."

"Hmph, so you got what you wished for, Lord El-Melloi II. It would be a shame if I had to kill you, so consider us all fortunate, then," Viola said, walking away with Bree and Lancer.

"Wait, what was this interesting thing that Bram spoke of?" Lord El-Melloi II demanded.

"Unfortunately for you, that's not for us to say," Viola replied.

* * *

"This is ridiculous," Rin thought to herself. Saber was meant to be the best class in terms of a head-to-head encounter, but right now, Saber was very evenly matched by Caster in combat.

However, Caster was not the one who was in actual combat.

This fight was eerily similar in vein to the last time Saber fought against a Caster class Servant in the Fifth Grail War.

Mikhel van de Wolff was fighting as Caster's proxy in this fight, and was able to stand toe to toe with Saber thanks to Caster's support from the rear.

"Tch, this is impossible. How does Morgan's Master know about the dimensions of my sword, along with my fighting style?" Saber wondered, grimacing as she tried to find an opening in Mikhel's defense.

"Oho, having trouble now, sister?" Caster goaded. "Surprised that a mere human who has never met you in combat before, much less in his lifetime, would have such intimate knowledge of your combat style?"

"Guh, Morgan! This is definitely your doing!" Saber replied.

Caster laughed heartily. "Indeed that is of my doing! Doesn't all this feel even a little bit nostalgic?"

Images of a blood-stained hill littered with the corpses of fallen soldiers and sounds of dying men began to flood Saber's mind. It took some degree of effort by Saber to prevent herself from being crippled by the effects of Caster's ability to manipulate her mind.

The Saber class usually possessed high magic resistance to the point where a Caster's class abilities would be rendered impotent, but surely this would be considered an aberration, for only one reason; being her sister, Morgan le Fey knows everything about her, and much of their history is intertwined with tales of power struggles, ceaseless feuding, and betrayals being the norm for the two. The Holy Grail Wars have always been fraught with aberrations and suspensions of rules, thus for Saber - having taken part in three Holy Grail Wars including this one - occurrences such as these are beginning to be the norm for her.

She had hardly composed herself from the mental attack by Caster when Mikhel swooped in to attack again. Saber's Battle Instincts were just good enough for her to put up her sword to block Mikhel's magically enhanced fist. Mikhel followed up his opening attack with a flurry of strikes aimed at her vital organs, but Saber was again quick to retreat a step back and get herself out of Mikhel's range.

Saber knew that she had to put some distance between Mikhel and herself in order to make an attempt on attacking Caster directly. In order to do that, she released some of her prana and aimed her sword at an onrushing Mikhel.

The wind around her sword began to swirl violently and as Mikhel approached, Saber unleashed her attack:

"Strike Air!"

To say that a very strong gale had struck would never have been able to do justice to the strength of the attack, but it certainly appeared so as lamp posts and electrical cables located on the roadside were blown down to the ground. Anything that was not secured to the ground was also blown away by the extreme wind. In theory, an attack of such caliber would have easily blown a human being far away from the battlefield.

However, it was Saber who was kneeling on the ground, coughing up blood. Mikhel had dodged the attack with ease, and took the opportunity of the split second after Saber had launched the attack to land a solid hit on her gut.

"Saber!" Rin shouted.

Saber coughed up blood again as she desperately swung her sword at Mikhel in order to keep him from striking again. "How did you..?"

"Fu fu fu.. I told you, sister. Mikhel knows every intimate detail about you and your fighting ability because I have already furnished him with all the knowledge that I gleaned from your years of warfare," Caster said, laughing at Saber.

Saber said nothing in reply as she got up again from her kneeled position, her eyes gleaming with anger. Mikhel was about to move in for the attack again when an arrow struck him in the foot, pinning him to the ground.

"Unfortunately for you, your allies have already left the battlefield," Archer said, preparing to draw his bow for another shot.

"And how would you be if any help, since you look gravely injured yourself?" Caster replied, observing Archer's wound in the chest.

"That scratch? Hah, you'd have to do more!" Archer boasted.

"Your allies have been recalled by Bram," Luvia continued. "It would be wise for you to withdraw too, or else you would probably end up being ganged up upon by us."

Caster looked at them for a moment before laughing. "Fu fu fu.. I did not get summoned by the Master of Rider, but I suppose you just wish to escape this battle alive. Whatever should I do, sister? I want nothing more than to kill you to complete my revenge."

"Perhaps you have been far too focused on the idea of your revenge that you failed to mind your surroundings," Archer replied.

Caster was barely able to react when a blade was placed on her neck from behind.

"Shiro!" Rin exclaimed.

"Retreat now, as per the demand, or I will be happy to oblige to ending your life right here," Shiro said quietly, tightening his grip on Bakuya.

"Could you do so before I end yours?" Caster asked.

"You're at a disadvantage, though. Ending my life would mean that Archer will end up putting an arrow through your head."

"Fu fu fu.." Caster giggled. "Well then, I shall kindly oblige to your demands then," Caster continued, turning towards Mikhel. "We're off then, sister. We shall continue our feud next time then," Caster said as she put her arm around Mikhel and disappeared.

Shiro, Saber, and Archer slumped down to the ground when they noted that their surroundings was clear.

"Lord El-Melloi II," Shiro said, raising his head towards Lord El-Melloi II. "Bram has discovered the locations of our prana regulators buried at the leylines."

"I expected as such, considering how Bram recalled all of his fighting forces," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "I'm afraid we will have to do this all over again."

"But Bram will definitely be keeping an eye on our movements from here on," Luvia replied.

"We still have to get this done," Lord El-Melloi II responded. "It would be far more difficult for us to achieve the destruction of the Grail should we not have these regulators in place!"


	16. Act 3: Chapter 3

**Author's Note**

 _Hey there again, everyone! I am back from my long vacation, all refreshed and ready to go again. I got some emails during my trip that notified me of new followers to Fate/Coda Tale, which is definitely an encouraging sight while I was away. Way to give me a well needed boost during my time spent recharging my body and mind. For those who have been following Fate/Coda Tale from the beginning, thanks for being so patient as I went away. Now, let's carry on!_

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

"I can't imagine that Lord El-Melloi II would have gone to such lengths to destroy the grail that he would actually put these regulators along the ley lines of this city," Bram said, as Rider finished destroying yet another regulator. "How many have we come across now?"

"Four," Rider replied.

Bram scoffed in response. "We still have two more leylines to search. I cannot rely on Caster to conduct the search, if what you said about her was true."

"I would be extremely wary of Berserker's Master and Lancer's Master too," Rider responded. "Who knows what manner of influence Caster has weaved upon them ever since she was summoned."

"Damn it!" Bram cursed. "Just my luck that I had to have the catalyst for Archer stolen from me by Luviagelita Edelfelt. Now I have a problematic Servant to deal with."

"Kill Caster while you have the chance, boy," Rider urged.

"Talk is easy, Rider!" Bram hissed. "Caster might have already caught wind of our little discussion here now thanks to us being within her territory. Look now, Viola and Bree have returned. Let us not speak of this until we are alone."

"Sir Bram!" Viola called out as she approached.

"You asked us to meet you at the bridge at first, but now here we are at the harbour. What have you seen that you should recall us from our battle?"

"I know what Archer and Emiya Shiro have been up to some days back when they were destroying Caster's familiars," Bram replied. "They have been covering for Lord El-Melloi II's little activity of planting these things in the ley lines around Fuyuki," Bram continued as he showed the destroyed regulator to Viola and Bree.

"What does this thing do?" Bree asked.

"This thing prevents prana from being channeled into the Greater Grail so that he can delay its summoning," Bram replied.

"But it doesn't stop the Grail from being summoned, no?" Viola continued.

"It doesn't, but if I know what he is up to, he is probably trying to prevent the Lesser Grail from collecting the prana from defeated Servants so he can find a way to destroy it."

"So what do we do after we finish destroying all these regulators?" Lancer asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Lord El-Melloi II's hand will be forced into action. We will counter whatever move he makes."

"Ah, but sir Bram," Viola said, her voice slightly shaky as she prepared herself to speak. "Berserker sustained a grievous wound from the fight earlier."

"And how did that happen?" Bram asked. A hint of irritation was sensed by the others as they observed his reaction.

"Berserker… somehow retained his memory of Archer, and I lost all my means of controlling him. I could have used a Command Seal to force him to fight Archer, but I figured that if… if I could just coax him into fighting without using the Command Seal, it would have been better…"

"So how did he end up being grievously wounded, then?" Bram demanded.

"At first he was just frozen in place when he saw Archer, and refused to fight him. Lancer and Archer then exchanged blows," Viola continued. "When Lancer unleashed his Noble Phantasm, Berserker suddenly moved in to protect Archer and took the blow that was meant for Archer."

"...what?" Bram could only reply dumbfoundedly.

"It is as she said," Lancer replied. "Berserkers may have lost all reason, but perhaps, it is true what we feared the most; they still retain all the memories that make them who they are."

Bram said nothing in reply. Instead, he slammed the regulator down and paced about. "Then I have to change my strategy yet again. Viola and Berserker shall remain behind until Berserker is fully healed again, while Bree and I will put a stop to Lord El-Melloi II's plans from here on. When Berserker is fully healed, Viola, you will kill Caster off."

"Huh!?" Viola asked dumbfoundedly.

"Wait, did we just hear this correctly?" Bree said.

Rider let out a sigh.

"I suppose you had something to do with this, laddie," Lancer said, casting a glance at Rider.

"That woman is a treacherous one," Rider replied. "I was about to fight Saber when she suddenly threatened this Master of mine to back off from her so-called family feud," Rider continued.

"Family… feud?" Bree asked.

"It seems that Saber and Caster are actually sisters."

"Wait, so… huh?" Bree was rendered speechless and dumbfounded at the revelation of Saber's identity.

"You said that we should not speak of this until we were alone, kid," Rider hissed at Bram.

"What can we do now that Berserker is not in any shape to fight?" Bram grumbled. "Our plans have changed!"

"But Sir Bram," Viola stepped towards Bram. "Isn't it counterproductive for us to be fighting a war amongst ourselves when we have a greater threat to face?"

"Make no mistake, girl," Rider replied. "Caster is plotting to undermine your collective efforts to win the War."

"B-but I don't understand!" Viola said, shaking her head. "What do you know!?" Viola demanded.

"Fu fu fu… I suppose I shall just cut to the chase, shall I now?" Caster chortled as she approached the group.

"Y-you!" Bram exclaimed.

* * *

"Master, there appears to be a fight happening at the river's edge, near the bridge," Archer told Luvia.

"Huh?" Luvia wondered at the report. She glanced quickly towards Lord El-Melloi II, who wore a perplexed look on his face.

"Infighting amongst themselves?"

"You think we should take a look?" Rin suggested. "If it truly is, we could learn a thing or two about the situation and adapt accordingly."

"I'll go," Shiro replied. "My wounds have all but recovered already."

"Saber and I will come too. You know, to make sure you will be alright," Rin said, standing up.

"At this rate, everyone might as well come to see what's going on," Archer continued.

"You just want an excuse to come along," Luvia huffed.

"This development piqued my interest too, I admit," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "However, we would end up drawing too much attention to ourselves. Besides, Archer is still in the process of healing after almost getting impaled by Lancer."

"Ah, but I'm-"

Archer's sentence was interrupted by Luvia, who smacked him across the back of his head.

"You idiot. Don't forget who is hard at work healing you right now. You want to go back out there and get yourself into trouble again?"

"I'll send Trimmau out to watch the goings on," Lord El-Melloi II concluded. "We can observe everything from here."

* * *

"You… witch!" Bram cursed through clenched teeth.

"Fu fu fu… why, Master of Rider?" Caster asked. "What have I done to warrant your branding of myself as a witch?"

"Drop that pretentious act of yours, Caster!" Bram growled. "What have you been plotting against us?"

"And what is this plot you speak of, Master of Rider?" Caster asked as she sauntered toward Bram. "If there was such a plot, from whence did this deceit come from?"

Caster was stopped in her tracks when Rider drew his sword, aiming its tip towards her. "I know of your treachery because that was how _I_ was assassinated!"

Viola and Bree remained dumbstruck, as was Lancer, who managed to speak despite being rendered speechless by the latest exchange.

"Lassie, is Rider's words true?"

There was a brief silence as Caster stood rooted to the spot she was at. It was soon broken by the sound of Rider's battle cry as he charged Caster down.

Caster did not flinch, however, as she stretched her hand forward, creating a barrier that held Rider's sword at bay.

"Oho, Rider. I understand your excitement and eagerness to get yourself involved with me, but please show some restraint in front of the others here," Caster said with a smile.

"Shut up, woman!" Rider shouted. "I shall end your treachery here before you infect the others here with your ill intent!"

"I'm sorry, Sir Bram."

A loud thud was heard by everyone, who wheeled around in shock at the sight of Mikhel landing a hit on Bram's gut.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you hurt Caster," Bram said quietly.

"Mikhel! That's Sir Bram you're attacking there!" Bree exclaimed.

"Like I said, I cannot let you hurt Caster!" Mikhel asserted. "I am aware of the threat Rider poses to her, and I will not let Caster be hurt anymore than she already is!"

"What did I tell you all!?" Rider bellowed, turning his attention toward Mikhel. He was hardly able to take a step forward though, as Caster used her magic to bind his feet together, causing Rider to fall prostrate to the ground. Caster was quick to also bind Rider's hands to his body to prevent him from moving.

"Master, it appears as if we have been had by Rider and his Master," Caster said, pulling a dagger out from within her robes. "Shall we go ahead with the execution?"

Mikhel nodded his head quietly.

"Hold it right there, lassie."

Lancer's face was grim as he pointed his spear at Mikhel's direction. "We deserve to know the truth as to what is going on here."

"There is only one truth, Lancer!" Rider growled, struggling to free himself from Caster's bonds. "I sense the same treachery from Ildico within Caster!"

"Rider, I do not know of this Ildico you speak of, but as a chieftain, you had to show yourself as an objective ruler, able to ensure that there is justice for your people, no?" Caster said. Kneeling down, she stroked Rider's head. "Please understand, Rider. There is no treachery within me save for your delusions. Such behaviour will prevent us from achieving our goals. As such, it is only fitting if you remove yourself from this War so that we can proceed toward our collective goal."

Caster raised her dagger, preparing to plunge it into Rider's heart, but her blade was promptly destroyed by Lancer, who wore a look of disapproval on his face.

"We pledged ourselves to the leadership of Rider's Master, have we not?" Lancer said, glaring at Caster. "Rider may have a problem trusting us, but seeing how he is about to be stabbed from behind, I can see his reasoning behind his mistrust."

"Lancer, Rider has manipulated his own Master with this mad tale of my so-called betrayal," Caster replied coolly. "He has been against our goals from the beginning because he desires the Grail for himself."

"What is Rider even planning to use it for?" Lancer asked, leaning forward. "I'd very much like to know."

"Lancer! That is none of your-"

Thud!

Lancer thrust his spear on the ground beside Rider's head, scratching his cheek.

"You shall speak after Caster, Rider." Ignoring Rider's curses, Lancer turned to Caster, casting a glare at her. "Well then, what does Rider desire from the Grail that he would betray comrades for it?"

"I-I.. can't say," Caster said, looking flustered. "But the Grail is known to be corrupted and therefore affect one's judgement, is it not?"

"Then you validate whatever our opponents have been trying to tell us, Caster!" Lancer exclaimed. "I am no chieftain like Rider, nor am I experienced in matters of court like yourself, but know this, Caster. I was a god before my death, and I have seen many things in the lives of mortals in my time. I am more inclined to believe in what Rider has to say now that you failed to pinpoint the reason behind your attempt to discredit him!"

"It's no use trying to talk to that snake, Lancer!" Rider growled, still struggling to free himself.

"Relax, laddie," Lancer said, stepping on Rider's back. "You owe me an explanation on your end."

"What?"

"You heard me clearly, Rider. Now, we have spoken before and you failed to convince me of your willingness to join hands with us on our cause," Lancer replied. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Mikhel attempting to sneak up on Bree and promptly shot a glare on him. "You are not doing any favours for yourself or your Servant by doing that, laddie. Spare yourself the agony and go stand beside your beloved Caster!"

Mikhel cursed under his breath as he was forced to abort his attempt to attack Bree.

"Well then, Rider."

"Fine, then," Rider sighed. "In the past, I figured that my people would survive if I took a wife from the Northern kingdom, therefore strengthening my position against the Imperialists in the West. Thus, my union with Ildico was arranged. My trust in the Northerners was betrayed because Ildico's intent all along was to ensure I do not live beyond our union. I sensed treachery from her before that, but I chose to trust in her pretty words of going against the greater evil that was the Imperialist scum!"

"So you desire the Grail so you can reverse the outcome?"

"Indeed I do," Rider replied simply. "However, I was forced to accept the fact that I was not going to obtain my wish as the boy desires to send the Grail back to this Association for whatever use they see fit. That, and along with the fact that I do not trust anyone to begin with, has made me regret ever wanting to change my fate!"

Does this mean you do not wish to obtain the Grail anymore?

Rider stared at Lancer for a brief moment before replying. "No," came the resolute answer.

Lancer turned around to face Caster again, who remained flustered. Mikhel was nervously standing beside Caster, but more than just being nervous, he also looked like he was about to succumb to rage.

"So lassie," Lancer began. "Rider here says he does not desire the Grail any longer, yet you said that he desired it for himself."

"But Lancer-"

"And on top of that, the only time you spoke to Rider was that time when we first arrived here and you somehow coaxed him into pursuing someone who was following us," Lancer's red eyes flashed as he spoke to Caster. "I had no idea that the Caster class could even read one's mind.. unless there is more to you than you have let on."

"Believe me when I say that I have no intent to betray anyone of you!" Caster exclaimed. "It was all Rider's plan, to divide us!"

"Enough already!" Mikhel cried. "Is it not enough that Caster has had to endure the pain of fighting against Saber - her own sister? Now all of you are trying to imply that she has been plotting against all of you!"

"It does not give you the right to strike your Master, don't you think so?" Lancer asked. "If she is truly innocent, did you have to attack him?"

"Rider raised his hand against Caster!" Mikhel replied angrily. "I'm doing what I could to defend her!"

"And yet, your Caster has failed to put her case forward," Lancer replied.

"S-shut up! What do you know!?" Mikhel raged, his body quivering as his face darkened.

"Likewise, what do you know about Lancer, Mikhel?" Bree asked. "I apologise, but I cannot stay silent any longer after all that has happened thus far."

"Neither can I," Viola concurred quietly.

"If it's worth anything, I had suspicions about the two of you when Sir Bram brought up the fact that the two of you resorted to _that_ method of prana transfer," Bree continued, looking down at the ground in an awkward fashion. "Ever since then, you and Caster have been behaving erratically. From what I recall, you had the task of preventing Emiya Shiro from interfering with our plans, but he has been a thorn in our side from the beginning."

"The time was not right for us to strike him then!" Caster insisted.

"What about earlier?" Viola demanded. "Sir Bram ordered you to locate and engage Emiya Shiro, but you then threatened Sir Bram to pull out from his fight with Tohsaka Rin and Saber… just for a family feud?"

"Not to forget, after striking Sir Bram down earlier, you wanted to take me down next," Bree huffed. "Way to be diplomatic about this, don't you think?"

"Your Servant was threatening mine!" Mikhel growled.

"Stop being so defensive, laddie," Lancer sighed, stepping away from Rider. "All that effort to defend yourself reeks of a cover up of your true intent."

"My true intent is to protect Caster!" Mikhel shouted. "I'm protecting her from the likes of Rider! And given the fact that you have decided to betray us all too, I won't hesitate to go after you if you threaten my Caster!"

"Oh my, laddie," Lancer said. "Rider's Master may have his share of misjudgements, but he was definitely right on the fact that you and Caster would have developed a bond that is beyond acceptance between a Master and a Servant. That, my laddie, is a dangerous thing." Lancer's red eyes narrowed as he lifted his spear. "I'm afraid you've been manipulated by Caster for her schemes."

"What did you say?" Caster said, glaring at Lancer.

"I believe my words were clear enough, Caster," Lancer replied. "I believe you have manipulated this kid in order to carry out your schemes."

"You traitor!" Caster and Mikhel cried simultaneously."

"Hey Rider, I may be making the wrong decision by believing you," Lancer said as he quickly cut the bonds that held Rider down, before turning to face Caster and Mikhel. "You'd better be true to what you said."

"It is not in me to be pretentious, kid!" Rider growled as he picked himself up. "I never did well with politics to begin with, as I am known to be far too honest about myself!"

"I saw that in you a while after our conversation on the roof," Lancer replied. "I should have noticed that sooner."

"No matter. I shall see to it that your judgement was without error," Rider replied.

"Traitors! The whole lot of you!" Caster cried. Grabbing a hold of Mikhel, she began to back away. "I will not stand with this rabble and allow my Master and I to be falsely accused and lynched!"

"You're not going anywhere, Caster!" Rider bellowed, leaping forward to thrust his sword into Caster, but she had already worked her magic on order to get away. A bright flash of light caused everyone to close their eyes, and the two disappeared into the ensuing darkness.

"So, I take it that the lassie is not with us?" Lancer asked, as the dust settled.

"I'd much rather not have that woman on our side and get us all backstabbed at the end," Rider grumbled. Picking Bram up, he turned to the others. "We do as the boy says. Berserker will remain behind until he is fully healed, while Lancer and myself will carry on with the plan."

"I'm curious, Rider," Bree asked nervously. "Why the change of heart? I thought you were against working together with us?"

"I am," Rider said after a brief pause. "But the boy is leading by example now, rather than by cowardly commanding from the rear, and I am bound to ensure that his plans come to fruition."

"So you're doing this purely for your Master, and not because you want to?" Lancer asked.

"It is as you see," Rider replied, leaping away from the group.

"He's still the same, as always," Lancer mused. "But at least, his honesty is better than the honey-coated words of Caster. Don't you agree, Master?"

"Eh… I guess," Bree replied. "But I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that Caster and Mikhel has already turned against us."

"So… I'm supposed to go after Caster and Mikhel? As Sir Bram asked me to do?" Viola asked.

"We could ask Sir Bram after he wakes again," Bree replied. "For now, we have to get back."

* * *

"Damn that Rider!" Mikhel cursed, smashing his fists against the trees in the Old Forest. "He was an absolute thorn in our side from the start, and he's now got Lancer on his side!"

"Calm down now, my Master," Caster replied, wrapping her arms around Mikhel from behind. "I am still here, thanks to your protection."

"We could have had a Servant as powerful as Lancer on our side, but he chose to be manipulated by Rider and whatever schemes he has!" Mikhel grumbled.

"Perhaps there is some truth to what you said, Master," Caster replied. "Rider could be using his Master as his source of authority to keep Lancer under his command. No matter what we try to do to discredit Rider, nothing will change the fact that Lancer would only just follow suit."

"We seriously have to do something about Rider in that case!" Mikhel said, exhaling heavily.

"Perhaps it is for the best that we have severed ourselves from them," Caster replied. "This is our opportunity to grab a hold of our desires and put an end to all who opposes our desire."

"Then, how shall we go about with our plan?"

Caster said nothing much in reply save for "we shall think over this later". Instead, she held Mikhel in a tight embrace for a long time.

* * *

"What… did we just witness just now?" Luvia wondered.

"So it's true that they are falling out amongst themselves?" Saber chimed in.

"I suppose it is safe to say that Caster appears to have severed her ties with Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri's faction," Lord El-Melloi II replied.

"Now is our time to strike, then!" Archer said excitedly. "If we take them out now, we will have only Caster to deal with, and we can focus our efforts on ensuring that this Grail is destroyed."

"I would have been in favour of that strategy," Lord El-Melloi II replied, sitting down on the chair. "However, the presence of Assassin in this war is still a problem. Emiya Shiro, Saber, and yourself have 60 kills between the three of you, so that leaves 20 more at large. Matou Zouken knows that he needs to bide his time and strike when the advantage falls towards his favour."

The room was silent as Lord El-Melloi II lit his cigar. Oddly, this was the first time he lit a cigar ever since their arrival at Fuyuki City.

"Caster cannot be overlooked either. Therefore, we may have to refine our strategy from this point on," Lord El-Melloi II concluded.

"What say you, if Saber and I make our move on my _onii-sama_ , Rider, and Lancer?" Archer ventured.

"Archer?" Saber blurted.

"You see, my _onii-sama_ probably won't raise his hand against me, which means Lancer's Noble Phantasm may be blocked by him, should it ever happen again. All we have to worry about is Rider and his abilities."

"What makes you think Berserker would be sure to come to your aid this time? He could be severely weakened by now, or Berserker's Master could have figured something out then?" Saber asked.

"Which is why, time is of the essence," Archer urged. "I can't avoid fighting my _onii-sama_ at this rate, so despite my reluctance, I have to do what we all have to do."

"And what is this thing that we all have to do?" Lord El-Melloi II quizzed.

"Destroy this Grail so such atrocities will never happen again, no?" Archer replied.

"Perhaps you have a point," Lord El-Melloi II conceded. "Are your wounds fully healed, Shiro? Archer?"

"Yes," both replied.

"So then," Lord El-Melloi II said, standing up. "Archer and Saber, the both of you will go ahead as planned. I have to replace the destroyed regulators, and Shiro shall provide support for us all from above."

"What if Shiro gets attacked?" Rin asked.

"I will figure a way to escape. It will be fine," Shiro assured.

"Let's not waste anymore time, then!" Archer replied. "I have a score to settle with Lancer!"


	17. Act 3: Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Zouken paced about the room, feeling restless. It was getting clear that he was far too advanced in age to be straining his physical body so much and for so long, but he was in such a state of distress that he ignored all signs of extreme fatigue and desperate signals from his body begging him to rest.

He could hardly ever consider resting right now because of the body that was in the room with him.

That body belonged to his 'grandson'.

If one attempted to corroborate the relationship he had with Shinji, it would have been a tough ask, because Matou Zouken is not _precisely_ Shinji's grandfather. In fact, a thorough perusal of the Matou family tree will yield a very peculiar result; the name Zouken would appear once in every two generational rows, with no offspring of his own, and without ever taking a wife. What's even more peculiar in that examination is the fact that the physical description of every Zouken in the Matou family tree is shockingly similar to the description of Matou Zouken _the first_.

Therefore, any attempt to corroborate the fact that Matou Zouken is actually the grandfather of Shinji would have yielded a very inconclusive result. But this time, it would be far too impossible to even suggest that Shinji is Zouken's grandson.

What's more, it is not even possible to determine if Shinji is human anymore.

Getting up slowly, without the use of his arms to support himself as he got up, he muttered nothing, and was not even showing any signs of life. Blankly, he turned his head slowly at Zouken's direction, who paused for a great deal of time.

"Shinji… kun."

"Master, do you have any orders?" Assassin asked as he materialised behind Zouken. "We have not received any orders for some hours, and there might have been some developments that we could have missed."

"I am hardly in the mood for anything else at this point," came Zouken's curt reply.

"Master, your sudden lack of interest in the War unsettles us," Assassin continued impatiently. "I would like to advise you to get us back out to the battlefield and look out for our opportunities to strike."

Zouken remained unmoved by Assassin's urging and raised his hand weakly, much to Assassin's dismay.

"At least allow us to take action independently until you feel the need to participate again."

"No!" Zouken growled, startling Assassin for a brief moment. "Do not mistake my current condition and think that I am disinterested in the War." Zouken hobbled towards Assassin slowly. "Also, I still do not accept the fact that you had nothing to do with the incident involving Shinji-kun."

"But Master-"

"Spare yourself the trouble," Zouken interrupted dismissively, again to the dismay of Assassin. "I am retiring for the day." Turning around, Zouken hobbled away to his room. "I shall send for you when I am sufficiently rested."

* * *

"Listen, Shiro. The timing must be perfect," Rin stressed.

"Ah, I got it," Shiro replied. He let out a deep breath before heading off.

"Do you think it is possible to defeat Lancer that way, based on Archer's strategy?" Saber asked.

"Based on the information gained from Archer, Luvia, and Lord El-Melloi II, we might have a shot at this if we try," Rin replied as she too, took a deep breath.

"If it doesn't work, Shiro might be in danger himself, especially if this does not work against Lancer's Noble Phantasm," Saber replied nervously.

"We have to trust him then, and leave the rest to our luck," Rin concluded as Saber put her arm around Rin and the both of them leapt off.

Trimmau's return from observing the fallout within Bram's faction had provided Lord El-Melloi II and the others with information of Bram's faction's base of operations after Trimmau followed them back from a distance. Archer, in particular seemed to be in a great hurry to take action, mostly due to the fact that he was very intent on continuing his fight with Lancer, and was very much insistent on heading off first. However, Rin was more insistent when she demanded to know more about Lancer and his Noble Phantasm before Archer could leave the mansion.

"Lancer's Noble Phantasm worries me, to be honest," Saber said. Her face was grim and there was a hint of unease in her voice. "If the information we got from Archer, Luvia, and Lord El-Melloi II is accurate, then we are facing a Noble Phantasm far more potent than the Gae Bolg used by the previous Lancer."

"You're right," Rin replied. "After Archer's account of his fight with Lancer, there is only one way that I can think of to prevent Lancer from using his Noble Phantasm."

"It's hardly a strategy that I would have agreed with," Saber replied distastefully. "However, given the situation we are facing, and from everything I have gone through in the past three Wars, I don't see another way around this."

"I'm sure we will not resort to an extreme measure despite the looks of it," Rin sighed. "I am usually not this optimistic, so I guess I must have taken after Shiro after all."

"It's not a bad thing," Saber said, smiling approvingly at Rin. "I have fond memories of the both of you after all."

* * *

"Why are you in such a hurry to fight Lancer?" Luvia demanded. "You barely escaped thanks to Berserker, and you are so keen on fighting Lancer all over again!"

"My apologies, Master," Archer replied. "It is not that I am eager to pick a fight with Lancer, nor am I eager to meet my doom, but I am disturbed by Lancer's Noble Phantasm, in truth."

"Eh?" Luvia replied dumbly.

Archer gritted his teeth for a moment. "We're here, Master," Archer finally said, setting Luvia down. "It is imperative that Lancer is taken out of the equation as soon as possible. If he starts using his Noble Phantasm on us, there is no escape."

Luvia sighed. "You're right. Lancer is the one holding the trump card against us all."

"Whatever plans Saber and the kid has, I hope it works for us too," Archer said, turning to face the dilapidated warehouse.

"I know you're here, Lancer!" Archer bellowed. "Let's finish our match!"

"Let us indeed, laddie," Lancer replied, standing upright where he was originally seated on the roof of the warehouse. "I was expecting you after all."

"It's a shame that my _onii-sama_ took a blow meant for me, and that our fight was then interrupted by your leader's sudden withdrawal," Archer replied. "Seeing as to how I am now here, I suppose we can pick up where we left off."

"I'd love to, but unfortunately, I have been ordered to put an end to your leader's plans, therefore I do not have time for idle chatter." Lancer's spear began to glow as he spoke.

"He's serious about ending this right off the bat," Archer whispered to Luvia.

Archer did not manage to finish his sentence when Lancer's spear stopped glowing and he leapt backwards. Saber was seen charging in to stop Lancer from using his Noble Phantasm.

"Oop. Looks like another combatant enters the fray, and I am now at a disadvantage," Lancer quipped.

"Save those jests for yourself, Lancer!" Saber grunted. "Everyone knows that you hold the advantage here!"

Lancer's red eyes quickly narrowed. "Indeed you are right, lassie. Unfortunately, I don't have time to play with all of you because I am under orders."

"I'm not allowing you to use your Noble Phantasm, Lancer!"

"Saber is right," Archer replied.

Lancer cursed under his breath as he had been too busy keeping Saber at bay that he failed to notice Archer taking aim with his bow.

"Fly, and may Apollo rain gold."

"Ceh, what a situation…"

"Toxo Teukros!"

Saber took that as a cue to swing her sword at Lancer's feet, causing Lancer to leap up to avoid having his feet taken from under him. He barely avoided Saber's blow when Saber quickly aimed a strong kick to his gut, sending him further up into the air. Almost immediately, Archer's barrage of golden arrows homed in to Lancer.

Archer cursed under his breath this time. "I'm such a fool to believe that he won't survive a second time."

Despite his disadvantageous position, Lancer was able to use his spear to parry the barrage of arrows that flew up into the sky towards him. He was scarcely able to recompose himself when Saber rushed in again to press him with repeated attacks.

The only thing different with this round of attacks from Saber was that she was carrying her Master under one arm.

"Now, Rin!"

"Shiro! Support fire!" Rin shouted as she threw a jewel at Lancer's direction.

Lancer sighed, taking Saber's actions as an affront to him. "Hmph, getting your Master involved in this isn't going-"

Rin's jewel shattered into pieces and quickly expanded, forming a heavy barrier around Lancer, weighing him down and preventing him from moving about freely or to retaliate. As Saber quickly pulled Rin away from Lancer, a bright red light streaked towards an encumbered Lancer.

"It's futile!" Lancer roared as he burst free from his bonds, and he was barely able to parry the blow of Hrunting loosed by Shiro a distance away.

Lancer was unable to recover from the blow as Saber and Archer renewed their assault on Lancer. In the meantime, Shiro was already pouring more prana into his second shot with Hrunting.

"I'm surprised that the lot of you assumed that I am the one holding all the advantage in a fight like this," Lancer griped.

"I'm surprised you're still trying to hide the fact that you have the means to defeat us all in an instant," Archer replied. "Let us not hide behind pretenses nor pleasantries, but let us now revel in our fight to the death!"

Lancer smirked. "Indeed you are right, regarding my hiding behind pretenses, but I unfortunately have no time to revel or to enjoy a fight like this. I will have to-"

Once again, Lancer was unable to finish his sentence. The first shot of Hrunting that Shiro fired earlier had changed course and was returning toward Lancer. To make matters worse for him, Shiro had let loose a second, more powerful shot with Hrunting, and it was now hurtling towards Lancer.

"Ceh!" Lancer cursed as he struggled to defend against the two Broken Phantasms that have locked onto him. "If only I could reach that annoying magus in the distance!" Lancer grumbled. He attempted to close in on Shiro, who was seen pouring mana into a third shot, but Lancer was again interrupted by Saber and Archer.

"I'm not letting you near Shiro!" Saber declared as she closed in onto Lancer. "You're not going anywhere near him!"

"So that lad's name is Shiro. I'll remember that," chuckled Lancer, who was still largely kept at bay thanks to the concerted effort by Saber and Archer, and also by Shiro's two shots with Hrunting. "Anyhow, the three of you are really getting me into a tight spot, now."

"We all know what happens when you use your Noble Phantasm, so why let you?" Archer replied. His bow began to elongate and emit a golden hue yet again as he began to use his Noble Phantasm. "Saber, get far away from him when I loose this one!"

"I'm not letting you go then!" Lancer replied. This time, despite the constant pressure of having to deflect two copies of Hrunting, he was able to remain close to Saber to avoid being fired upon by Archer's Noble Phantasm.

* * *

"This Lancer, although he is considered a god, his fighting skill is admirable," Shiro thought to himself. There was only but one way to turn the tables in this fight, but he did not like the idea at the onset. However, given the circumstances, he had no choice but to do so.

If Shiro shifts his aim away from Lancer, Hrunting will no longer home in onto Lancer, which would give Lancer a great deal of freedom to fight without pressure. However, seeing as to how well he fended off all the pressure from Saber, Archer, and himself admirably, dropping Lancer as a target would probably do little to change the outcome. Sighing, he waited until Hrunting's flight path turned towards Lancer again before Shiro shifted his eyes to a new target, and let loose his shot.

* * *

Everything that happened within the next few seconds for Lancer felt like an eternity when he witnessed a gold streak of pulsating light hurtling down at his direction. He continued to keep Saber well within his range to prevent Archer from firing his Noble Phantasm. Above him, Shiro's Broken Phantasms were closing in for yet another strike. Despite his abilities and skill, he was having trouble fighting against two Heroic Spirits and a magus who wields an assortment of Noble Phantasms.

"If only I still had my godhood, I would have been able to do more."

He eventually realised that the golden streak of light that was loosed by Shiro was not directed at him. Rather than targeting Lancer, Shiro presented Lancer with a dilemma by taking aim at the warehouse which served as Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri's base of operations.

"Damn you, laddie!" Lancer cursed, leaping forward to try and stop Shiro's attack from striking the warehouse that Bree was in.

"You're wide open!" Archer exclaimed. "Fly now and strike your foe with Apollo's might!"

"Cheh!" Lancer cursed yet again. He was well aware that he was completely overwhelmed by a concerted effort by Archer, Saber, and Shiro.

"Toxo Teukros!"

The area around the warehouse was completely sealed off by a Bounded Field prior to the battle, so nobody would have been able to stumble into the scene. If they did, however, they would not have been able to explain the scene within the Bounded Field.

The warehouse was completely demolished and the ground around it was pockmarked with craters. One would be forgiven if they mistook the scene as one caused by a military bomber carpet bombing the area. Given the way the place looked, it was very unlikely that anyone would have survived whatever caused such destruction.

Despite all the destruction wrought by the combined attacks from Shiro and Archer, Lancer somehow managed to survive the blasts, but there was no way he could resist any further attack. Half of his upper body was blown away by Archer's Noble Phantasm, and the rest of his body was badly burnt and gravely injured due to his attempt to stop Shiro's Caladbolg II from destroying the warehouse where Bree, Viola, and Berserker was in. Unfortunately for Lancer, his attempt was futile, because Bree and Viola was also gravely wounded by Shiro's attack on the warehouse.

"Damn you… kid!" Lancer hissed labouriously.

"Give it up, Lancer," Archer commanded, aiming an arrow at Lancer. "None of us here bear you a grudge. We're fighting you and in such a way because we have an objective to complete."

"You'd stoop so low to achieve your goals?" Lancer demanded. He soon began coughing up blood as his body was unable to bear the injuries that he sustained.

"It pains me to say so, but this War itself is a farce to begin with," Saber replied. "This is the third such time that I have participated in it."

"Tha.. that cannot be!" Lancer stammered. "I thought Servants are summoned with no prior knowledge of any previous Wars that they participated in. How do you know, then?"

"I myself do not know," Saber answered. "Anyhow, please forgive us for resorting to underhanded tactics such as this. I have had to set aside my pride and honour as a knight in this War to ensure that this travesty does not occur again."

Lancer sighed. "There is nothing to forgive. For me, there are only regrets." Pointing to Bree, Lancer sighed. "Please spare the life of my Master. She only participated in this War on the behest of Rider's Master."

"We are well aware of that," Luvia replied. "Your Master is a colleague of ours, and we formerly studied together."

"Shiro won't stand for seeing your Master killed if he could help it," Rin continued.

"That laddie, huh? Lancer replied. "It doesn't explain why he fired at the warehouse, though."

"We all know you would prioritise your Master's safety over your own," Rin replied. It was really a matter of convincing Saber and Shiro to take this course of action to prevent you from using your Noble Phantasm."

Lancer chuckled, as his body began to dissolve. "You are all such an insufferable lot."

The last that was seen of Lancer as he disappeared completely was one of him tipping his head down as if to offer a bow as he left.

"We should take these two ladies and be on our way," Archer said, picking Viola and Bree up.

"Let's get back to the mansion quickly," Saber answered, motioning for Rin and Luvia to hold on to her. "Rider and his Master are not here, so he might be somewhere out there at the moment.

An explosion in the distance attracted their attention, which quickly gave way to worry.

"That is Shiro's location! Someone's attacking him!" Rin exclaimed.

"We don't have time to waste," Archer grunted. "Let's go help the kid before we take these ladies back to the mansion!"

* * *

 _Minutes earlier…_

Shiro took a deep breath right after he fired Caladbolg II at the warehouse. As he watched the resulting destruction of the warehouse, Shiro exhaled sharply. It somehow turned out just as Archer suggested it would.

Archer's plan relied on the fact that a Servant would go to all lengths to protect their Master, and that a concerted effort was necessary to ensure that the Servant cannot use his Noble Phantasm. If they were also able to disable Lancer's Master in the attack, the chances of defeating Lancer would have been far greater than before.

Three for three, achieved with minimal complications.

Except for the latest turn of events.

Shiro felt a sudden jolt of pain surging through his body and his legs felt like it was about to buckle. He managed to stay on his feet and attempt to comprehend the situation he was in.

That sudden jolt of pain originated from his back, which radiated from one spot somewhere at his lower back.

That same spot was also spewing blood onto his overcoat and Shiro was also beginning to feel his own blood coming up his throat. He placed a hand onto his back and tried to feel the spot which was spewing blood, only to discover a dagger, with the entire length of its blade buried into his back.

Shiro quickly pivoted on one foot as he whirled around to face his assailant and was genuinely unsurprised by the appearance of the one who stabbed him from behind;

The white skull mask gleamed in the moonlight as Assassin prepared to attack again.

"Damn it, Assassin!" Shiro cursed as Assassin took a step forward. "I was already half-expecting you to show up, but definitely not in such a manner."

Assassin said nothing in reply. Instead, Assassin drew another dagger and began striding towards Shiro.

Shiro traced Kansho and Bakuya and attempted to stride forward to meet Assassin, but he was attacked from behind yet again.

This time, he felt a dagger piercing his left thigh and he was brought down to one knee. Turning his head, Shiro glared at the other Assassin who was taking a step back after plunging his dagger into Shiro's thigh.

"I'm quite glad to be seeing you here," Shiro muttered. "I've been waiting to kill you all for what you did to Shinji!"

Assassin chuckled for a moment. "We remember quite clearly that it was _you_ who killed your friend, and it was also you who killed so many of us too!"

"Shut up!" Shiro grunted, standing up. Kansho and Bakuya disappeared from his hands and in its place, a bow appeared in his hands.

The Assassins were quick to realise what was about to happen and quickly rushed forward to attack Shiro, but he was already thinking a step ahead of them. Despite the injuries on his back and thigh, Shiro leapt high into the air and aimed a shot with Caladbolg II at the ground below him where the Assassins were.

As the ground beneath Shiro exploded from Caladbolg II's impact, he used the force from the blast to propel himself further away from the scene. The injuries he sustained is already a disadvantage to him in a prolonged fight, even though he used Reinforcement to temporarily repair his damaged muscles and blood vessels. The only thing he could do to protect himself at this stage was to retreat and regroup with the others.

"Shiro! Are you okay?" Saber called out from the distance.

"Who is the one that caused those injuries?" Rin exclaimed as they approached Shiro, whereupon their arrival, Rin noticed the wounds he was carrying.

"It was Assassin," Shiro muttered…


	18. Act 3: Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

It is said that when a person dreams, the majority of these dreams are quickly forgotten when the person wakes up from their slumber. However, there are a few instances where the person awakes and is aware that they experienced a dream and that they can recount the experience in that dream.

Bree was experiencing neither one of those dreams. She was somehow well aware of the fact that she was dreaming. After all, she was very much aware that she was in the warehouse while Lancer was fighting outside. Lancer had instructed her to remain inside while he repelled the attackers. Not too long into the fight, however, she was engulfed in a blinding flash, whereupon realising she was in danger, she was also aware of Lancer attempting to use his body as a shield to protect her.

She remembered little after that save for the fact that she is now in a dreamlike state, but she was fully able to walk around and interact with her dream.

"This must be one of those lucid dreams many people talk about," Bree mumbled to herself.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of it.

That tall stone tower.

She's seen it numerous times in her previous dreams.

She was very sure of what she would find there, and therefore decided to walk there.

As she approached the tower, she began to hear the sounds of babies crying, along with the muffled sobs of a woman. Bree stopped for a moment to figure out what was going on up there, and quickly stepped away to hide behind a tree when the door to the tower swung open.

From within the tower emerged a woman clad in long robes and a headdress made of deer hide. She clutched onto three bundles wrapped in cloth, and despite the attempt to hide them, the sobs from the babies were evident.

Bree continued to watch for a moment and follow the woman until she arrived at the harbour, where the woman made preparations to throw the babies into the water.

Bree really felt like stepping out to stop the woman from killing the babies, but she was somehow restrained by an unseen force. Perhaps, her dream was not so lucid after all.

The woman looked around furtively, and noticed that there was a group of fishermen approaching the harbour. Panicking, the woman quickly began throwing the babies into the water, but she failed to notice that the first baby she threw did not land in the water, but instead, it landed in a reed basket that was floating on the water. Having failed to notice it in her haste, the woman completed her task of throwing the babies into the water to kill them, she hurried away just moments before the fishermen arrived at the harbour.

The unseen force that held Bree back quickly whisked her away from the harbour and she was brought to a hilly place which reminded Bree of her native Ireland.

Taking a deep breath to savour the feeling of being in her homeland, she began wandering around aimlessly before she heard the clash of spears.

Her ears were perked immediately as she quickly ran towards the sound. Approaching the crest of the hill, she could make out the figures of two warriors sparring with their spears. One of them was very much unmistakable; his long hair and red eyes gave his identity away. The other, a young woman, who was probably in her teens, held a black spear which had a demonic vibe emanating from it. Her long, deep purple hair was flowing gracefully with every twist and turn of her body as she sparred with Lancer.

Bree continued to watch for a brief moment before Lancer finally lost the upper hand to this young woman, who ended the match by thrusting her spear at Lancer's temple, stopping short of skewering Lancer's head.

"Good job lassie… princess," Lancer chuckled. "I believe my tutelage has been of good use to you."

"Thank you, Master," the young woman replied, thrusting her spear into the ground. "Please spare me from the title "princess"," she continued, exhaling after a moment. "The kingdom I'm inheriting is not even of this world. Here, I am just Scathach."

"Whether of this world or not, you are still about to inherit a kingdom, and you have learnt much in your years of preparation," Lancer answered, walking towards a long leather bag. He slid his spear into the bag and pulled out another spear. The demonic etches on the serrated spear glowed with a bright red hue and a growling sound was barely heard emanating from the spear as Lancer spun the spear around effortlessly. "A parting gift for you, lassie."

"Eh?"

"I have nothing more that I can teach you, for you have surpassed me in skill," Lancer said quietly. "You will go on to teach my art to others as you see fit."

"But this spear…"

"This is Gae Bolg," Lancer said, all the while spinning the spear around with ease. He finally tossed the spear at Scathach, who caught the spear. "This spear may not have the destructive power of my Brionac, but it is still a very powerful spear in its own right."

"Won't you continue to teach me, Master?"

"I'm afraid not, lassie. I have much to do from now on," Lancer said, frowning. "I have some family business to take care of."

"You have a family?" Scathach asked. "I never really heard you speak of your family."

"Indeed I do," Lancer replied, a wry frown forming on his brow.

"You don't seem very… happy about your family," Scathach replied quietly.

"Don't mistake my expression for a lack of happiness," Lancer replied calmly. "I have business with another person who lay with my wife." Picking his leather bag up and slinging it across his bag, Lancer turned to face his now former disciple. "I have children too. And I may send at least one of them your way. Teach him everything I have taught you, and some more."

"Will we ever meet again, Master?"

"Perhaps, as a citizen of your kingdom," Lancer replied. "At that time, expect me never to address you as "lassie" anymore."

With that, Lancer casually waved goodbye and strode off, leaving Scathach with Gae Bolg in her hands.

Bree remained rooted to her spot as she marvelled at the scene before her.

Until she felt a very painful sensation in her lungs. It was almost as if someone set fire to it.

"What's this burning feeling inside my lungs? Water… I need water!" Bree thought in a state of panic.

Then, she realised it; she was submerged in a pool of water. The fiery sensation in her lungs was not caused by fire, but she was drowning.

Still in a disoriented state, she began flailing her arms and legs, hoping to find a way to the surface of the water. A sudden splash above her gave her an indicator as to where the surface was. Desperate for air, Bree began swimming towards the surface. However, her path to the surface was soon blocked by another flailing body in the water sinking down to the bottom.

The body that was sinking to the bottom was none other than Lancer, bruised and bloodied, and there was a large millstone chained to his feet.

Lancer and Bree continued to struggle in the water, but unlike Bree, who was able to get to the surface and take a deep breath of air, Lancer was not able to swim due to the weight of the millstone that brought him further down. Lancer's body seemed to emit a bluish glow which began dissipating from his body and Bree could somehow see Lancer's godhood stripped away from him by the magical properties of the water. Lancer's struggle soon ceased as his godhood - and his life - slipped away…

* * *

Bree gasped loudly as she awoke from her dream.

"Wait. Why am I still alive?" Bree wondered to herself. "Where am I?"

Bree turned to her left and was completely taken aback by the sight of Shiro sleeping in the futon laid out beside her. Bree shot up in surprise and began crawling backwards towards the wall as fast as she could, before bumping into something soft.

"I see you're already awake now," Saber's voice was heard from behind Bree.

"Guh!" Bree gasped again, turning around to find her face an inch away from Saber's face.

Bree stood up quickly in a flash and she backed away again towards the wall. "What am I doing here? What did you do to Lancer?" Bree demanded.

"Unfortunately, Lancer was defeated by Archer, Shiro, and Saber," Rin answered coolly as she swung the door open to walk into the room.

"Tohsaka Rin!" Bree exclaimed, jumping in surprise.

"Lancer insisted that we care for you now that he has been defeated," Rin answered, stepping out from the room momentarily to pick up the tea set that was arranged neatly on the tray.

"I could have sworn that I was either killed or severely wounded in that explosion," Bree wondered aloud.

"You were quite badly injured in the explosion, as was Viola," Saber replied. "Rin and Luvia healed the both of you once we were able to bring you here."

"I don't suppose that you are holding me and Viola hostage just so you can bargain with Sir Bram?"

Rin let out a long sigh. "There is nothing to bargain, mac Branain-san," Rin continued as she poured the tea. "We must destroy the Grail no matter what the cost is."

"Where is Viola anyway?"

"Konig-san was awake an hour before you got up," Rin replied. "She is having a word with Edelfelt-san and Lord El-Melloi II outside the mansion."

"I suppose you should be there too," Saber continued. "It would be preferable if you understood the problem that the Grail can bring to the world if it is not destroyed."

"I don't see why I should join forces with Lord El-Melloi," Bree replied dismissively.

"mac Branain-san!" Rin chided.

"I have nothing against all of you," Bree continued. "However, I believe that all of you are doing the Association a great disservice by attempting to destroy something so powerful when it can be turned over so that the Association can put it to good use."

"You don't understand, mac Branain-san," Rin replied exasperatedly. "And even more so since you are not from here!"

"Tohsaka speaks the truth, mac Branain-san," Shiro said weakly, groaning as he slowly got up.

"Shiro!" Rin exclaimed.

"You're all so noisy, nobody would be able to get any sleep here," Shiro complained. "I'm sorry I had to trouble you all again."

"It's nothing," Saber replied with a smile aimed at Rin. "Rin was quite worried about you when you passed out last night."

"I'm sorry, Tohsaka," Shiro mumbled apologetically, rubbing the back of his head.

"I won't forgive you if you keep calling me Tohsaka," Rin teased, handing Shiro a cup of tea. "It isn't going to taste as good as the one you always brew."

"I can brew some now if you wish," Shiro replied. "At least our guests will have something good to drink."

"You can save your efforts, Emiya-san," Bree dismissed, getting up. "Viola and I should be on our way."

"At least hear us out," Shiro pleaded.

"I stand by what I said earlier," Bree replied curtly. "You're doing the Association a great disservice."

"So you plan to let the Association have the Grail at the cost of this city?" Shiro challenged.

"I'm sure Sir Bram will be able to obtain it without any complications," Bree replied.

"Then Bram has severely underestimated the cost of obtaining the Grail," Shiro continued. His irritation was very much pronounced now to the point that even Bree could not ignore his tone. "What do you know of the Holy Grail War? You're only participating in this one for the first time! Tohsaka and I have participated in the previous War, and Saber here has experienced two!" Shiro's clenched fists trembled as he rebuked Bree. "This city has suffered tremendously and many innocent people died in a War that has nothing to do with them!"

"Shiro…" Rin whispered.

"Do whatever you wish from here on, mac Branain-san," Shiro continued. "But if you insist on putting this city in danger for the sake of obtaining the Grail…"

Shiro paused for a moment before raising his clenched fist. "I will stop all of you!" Shiro finally said, his voice trembling with anger yet loud with resolve.

"It's too bad, Emiya-san," Bree replied. "I always thought you were genuinely a magus who truly wished to help others through your talent, but it seems you're nothing more than Lord El-Melloi II's lackey now."

Bree left the room after delivering her Parthian shot, leaving a crestfallen Shiro, Rin, and Saber to ponder on what they could have done more to convince Bree.

* * *

"So I take it that you're not keen to rethink your position, like Viola here?" Luvia asked Bree as she exited the mansion.

"You're the one making a mistake, Lord El-Melloi II," Bree replied angrily. "Why should I believe someone who gave the orders to put my life in danger just so they can kill Lancer?"

"Hey now, that was _my_ idea," Archer reasoned. "If we were really that hostile to you, don't you think that we could have just ignored you last night and let you die? My Master healed you last night, y'know?"

"Whatever you did still does not take away the fact that you're doing the Association a great disservice. Also, Emiya-san has tried rather passionately to dissuade me to the point of laying threats against us," Bree responded.

"Of course you would think it that way," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "Perhaps, if things went your way, you would finally see it for yourself, but none of us here can afford for a third such occurrence," Lord El-Melloi II continued. "Emiya is one to attest to it, hence his passionate reasoning to dissuade you from the folly of your ways."

Bree refused to remain there any longer to be a part of such a pointless conversation. "This is a waste of time," Bree muttered angrily, motioning for Viola to go with her and return to Bram's location.

"Ah, there goes the chance for my onii-sama and I to fight alongside each other rather than against each other," Archer lamented.

"What does it matter to you?" Luvia replied, scowling. "If that was so important to you, go on ahead and make a pact with Bree since she does not have a Servant now."

"Ah, please forgive my insolence," Archer replied jestfully. "Surely you were just kidding with me, no?"

"Those idiots!" Luvia grumbled. "How dare they take Lord El-Melloi II for a fool?"

Lord El-Melloi II paid no attention to Luvia's grumblings. Instead, he was already pondering the next step of the plans.

Lancer is already killed, but his Master is still very much in the fight. Caster and her Master has split from the Sophia-Ri faction and is now at large, while Matou and Assassin remains a constant thorn in everybody's side, as evident from last night's attack on Shiro. Much has happened over the span of roughly four nights, but progress has been at quite a slow, almost trudging pace. Out of the seven Servants summoned onto the battlefield, only one has been defeated.

There was also another unexpected event that he discovered when he went out to replace the regulators last night. It was something that urgently needed attention, and he was unable to convey the message to the others due to the presence of Bree and Viola. However, now that they were no longer in the mansion, he figured that the time was ripe to fill the others in on the situation.

"Edelfelt, come with me. We have something to discuss with Emiya and Tohsaka."

* * *

The Overseer of the War usually does not have much to do apart from ensuring that the rules are kept. On the outset, it seems like an easy job, but there were things that were not mentioned in the job description.

Whenever a battle is fought in any place within Fuyuki City's limits, the Church had to ensure that the secrecy of the War was maintained. This included working with the Association to manipulate press statements and issue gag orders, organising and executing a total cleanup and rebuilding of the affected areas (and charging the bills to the Association, since the Einzberns have given up their pursuit of the grail), erasing the short term memories of witnesses using subliminal messaging, mass hypnosis, or both, as well as the last resort of disposing of anyone who threatens to expose the existence of a battle royale between mages.

Once in a while, there are some emergencies to attend to as well.

Caren Hortensia grimaced at the report she held in her hands. One emergency would have been considered out of the ordinary. Two emergencies would have become a disaster.

Caren stared at the outline of the report, hoping that she was wrong. She counted the bullet points on the list, and counted it again to allow the situation to sink into her mind. One. Two. Three emergencies. Caren's heart sank for a moment and she tightened her grip on the paper, crumpling it slightly.

"This is beyond a disaster…"


	19. Act 4: Chapter 1

**ACT IV**

 **Chapter 1**

"Wake up boy!"

"Urgggggggh… my head hurts," Bram groaned, shaking his head slightly. "What's going on?"

"You've been sleeping soundly all night. Wake up!"

"R-Rider?" Bram asked, his voice hoarse from the events of the night before. "Where am I?"

"You were knocked out by Caster's Master-"

"Oh right. That bastard… I am going to tear him a new one when I see him… literally!" Bram cursed, getting up slowly. He was soon left in a dumbstruck state when he surveyed the area around him. "Where exactly are we?"

"After everything that happened last night, I decided not to return to our base of operations," Rider replied, getting up from his seated position not too far away from Bram. "While you were enjoying your nap, I have been taking you along with me as I scoured the place for Caster and her Master."

"Right. That Caster again," Bram grumbled. "Well? Did you find them?"

"They are definitely not within the city," Rider replied. "If they are anywhere right now, they are probably in this forest."

Bram tried his best to ignore the throbbing sensation in his head and the painful bruise on his gut as he got up, and started surveying the area.

"I… I can't tell where they are," Bram finally said. "This forest has a very strong Bounded Field protecting whatever is inside."

"Caster's Bounded Field, I assume?" Rider asked simply.

"Well, this forest used to belong to the Einzberns, so I'm pretty much able to recognise their Bounded Field's characteristics. However, this Bounded Field feels a lot different, as if someone reinforced the existing Bounded Field that was created by the Einzberns," Bram explained.

"We should make our move, then," Rider responded. "I'm itching for a fight."

"Hold on, Rider," Bram replied, putting his hand on Rider's shoulder. "I sense a burst of energy coming from somewhere in the city."

When both Bram and Rider looked at the general direction of the city, they could roughly make out the sight of a very large and bright signal flare flying into the sky, despite the scarce view due to the canopy line of the forest.

"Isn't that… the summons flare for the Grail War Participants?" Bram wondered aloud.

"Feh," Rider huffed. "It is of no importance to us," Rider continued disinterestedly.

"I should consider sending either Bree or Viola-" Bram replied before he stopped short of completing his sentence, pausing to listen to the telepathic message he was receiving. "I just received a message from them," Bram replied. His tone was dark and a frown formed on his face.

"Heard something you didn't like, I assume," Rider remarked.

"The warehouse was attacked last night," Bram replied. "Lancer was killed in the battle, while Bree and Viola was momentarily in the custody of Lord El-Melloi II before they were released."

Rider huffed. "All the more reason why we should hunt for Caster."

"I must concur," Bram replied. "That accursed woman has really done us in this time, and Mikhel… will pay the price too, for daring to go against me!"

Rider scowled for a moment before turning to face Bram. "I am irritated by you nonetheless, boy. Such a turn of events is something that could have been prevented from the outset, but… it's too late for me to harp on it."

Bram was slightly agitated by the remark from Rider, but he could say nothing. As much as he had planned everything out in the beginning, his strategy was compromised due to the fact that he had the catalyst for Archer stolen by Luviagelita Edelfelt. After a moment of pondering Rider's words, Bram gathered his resolve to speak again. "It's too late for blame now. What matters for me is to ensure that those who dare to sidestep or oppose my authority be destroyed."

"Well then, show me your resolve," Rider urged.

"I will send for Bree and Viola to accompany us. Bree can send a familiar to attend this emergency meeting called by the Church," Bram responded simply, trudging ahead towards the Bounded Field in the forest.

* * *

"Isn't that-?" Rin wondered aloud as she noticed the signal flare beyond the window of the mansion.

"The Church is sending an emergency message out to summon us," Lord El-Meloi II answered. He let out a sigh, placing a hand on his forehead. "It's just like that time."

"The fourth War?" Shiro asked.

"Indeed. The Church summons the participants when there is an urgent matter that requires immediate attention," Lord El-Melloi II answered. "During the fourth War, the Masters were told to halt all activities related to the War to focus on a threat to the entire existence of the Association."

"So you're saying that the Church is asking us to form a truce with the Sophia-Ri group?" Luvia asked. She began to look irritated at the thought of having to see them again.

"That may not necessarily be the case altogether," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "We won't know anything until we send a familiar to the Church to see what is going on."

"Do you think it could be about whatever you have told us earlier?" Shiro asked. "You did mention that you have passed this knowledge on to the Mediator."

"Maybe."

"Why would you pass that kind of information along?" Archer demanded. "It actually works in our favour, since it is the destruction of this Grail you have always been talking about!"

"At what cost, Archer?" Lord El-Melloi II replied calmly. "Surely the discovery actually helps our cause, but don't you think that by keeping the knowledge to ourselves, it would suit with the values that Saber and Emiya Shiro hold dear?"

"Saber and the kid were able to put that aside just once in our fight against Lancer, no?" Archer replied. "Sometimes we have to compromise on our values, unless you are fine with dying because you tried to uphold those values which you hold dear!"

"I'm sorry, Archer…" Shiro responded hesitantly. "But last night and this one is different."

"I must concur," Saber chimed in.

"Last night, mac Branain-san and Konig-san were combatants just like the rest of us. Using that reason alone, we were willing to challenge our values in the hopes that we can fulfill a greater cause, which was to ensure that Lancer does not use his Noble Phantasm to end our efforts to destroy the Grail." Shiro looked directly at Archer and paused for a moment before he continued, a stoic look forming on his face. "This one is different. I will absolutely not allow any harm to come upon an innocent, no matter what. I devoted myself to this hard road to ensure that I can achieve my aim of becoming the Hero of Justice."

"It's a long and difficult road, fraught with perils of many kinds, kid," Archer replied. "The losses you have to bear on this journey will weigh you down."

"Even so, I have made my pledge," Shiro responded. His voice was strong and sure, and Archer marvelled at the resolve Shiro showed.

"Our children and I are also with him on this journey," Rin continued. "He may still be carrying that stupid dream of his, as he has done for years, but really, he isn't as stubborn as you see him now." Grabbing Shiro's hand with both her hands, Rin leaned in onto Shiro's broad shoulder and smiled. "He knows the risks involved and doesn't shy away from it, but he is smart enough to figure out a way to come out of it all victoriously."

"You know," Archer replied with a smile. "You netted yourself a very troublesome man."

"Of course!" Rin replied cheerfully, smacking Shiro playfully on his back. "After all, a little quirk here and there adds to the charm, you know?"

"You know, it would be somewhat great if you actually shared Shero with me once in a while," Luvia joked.

Rin shot a glare at Luvia and huffed loudly. "Over my dead body!"

"Alright ladies," Archer pleaded nervously, trying to hold back his laugh. "I think we have a far more important issue to talk about here."

"Indeed we have," Lord El-Melloi II replied, exhaling the smoke from his cigar loudly in mild annoyance. "As you have just discovered, my decision to pass the information on to the Church is based on the fact that we have innocents that would be placed in grave danger."

Lord El-Melloi II walked towards the window and stared outside. "Then again, we have no idea why the Mediator summoned us. It's best that I send a familiar out to attend the meeting, so we can plan our next course of action.

Now that Lancer is out of the picture, the Sophia-Ri faction has lost their best option of beating Saber and Archer. The onus is now on them to formulate a way to beat us only with Berserker and Rider."

Lord El-Melloi II paused as he smoked his cigar, all the while maintaining his gaze outside the window.

"Not to mention, Caster seems to have broken off with the Sophia-Ri faction."

"Until we see Caster fighting against the Sophia-Ri faction, I won't wager any chance of them really having a fallout or a breaking apart of the group," Shiro replied, his eyes narrowing. "For all we know, it could be nothing more than an elaborate smokescreen to confuse us."

"But Lord El-Melloi II's golem did see a fight between Caster and Rider," Luvia replied.

"I'm inclined to believe that it is just a plan to decieve us," Shiro insisted. "Like I mentioned, until I see Caster actually fighting the Sophia-Ri faction, I won't take everything we saw last night at face value."

"You certainly have a point, Shero," Luvia replied. "But doesn't that leave us with one more thing to worry about?"

"I guess so," Shiro replied.

"You know what," Archer said all of a sudden. "I could do some observation of Rider and Berserker from afar if you wish. Considering my ability to remain at a distance, I can just keep an eye on them and report anything to you, no?"

"How would you know where they are right now?" Luvia asked.

"Come on, this city isn't that big when compared to the labyrinths of Troy," Archer replied confidently. "I'm not even trying to physically follow Berserker or Rider. I'm just observing them from a distance."

"A sound proposition," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "I have one more task for you, Archer."

"Oh?" Archer asked.

"Assassin still bothers me," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "If you sense their whereabouts, do inform us too."

"Could I perhaps kill Assassin if the chance presents itself?" Archer ventured.

"Personally, I won't stop you," Lord El-Melloi II began. "I'd advise you to use your discretion. Matou Zouken has been unnaturally quiet for around two nights, and then Assassin suddenly attacks Emiya last night. Matou Zouken has definitely been planning something, and I do not like the way it's going."

"Well then, with your permission, Master," Archer requested.

"Be careful out there," Luvia answered.

"Oh? You're worried about me, Master?" Archer teased, bumping Luvia's shoulder playfully with his fist.

"S-shut up! I'm done having to heal you every time!" Luvia snapped. "I'm not going to heal you this time if you come back all banged up!"

"I'm just doing some regular reconnaisance, Master, so rest easy," Archer replied casually, smiling as he turned to leave.

Rin waited for a moment until Archer left before she cast a devilish smile and a knowing glance at Luvia. "Oh, the closet tsundere surfaces…"

"W-what did you say!?" Luvia demanded, growing slightly flustered.

Lord El-Melloi II sighed. "It must be nice to be young…"

* * *

In order to gain an understanding of the reason behind the Church's summons, we digress to an event that happened several hours earlier, at the Matou household.

"Well, what do you have to say?" Matou Zouken growled. "Nobody gave you any orders an hour ago, and you've gone and done something stupid!"

Assassin remained in a bowed posture, and was too ashamed to speak.

"I did tell you not to mistake my condition yesterday as a sign that I have lost interest in the War! And I also remember telling you that you have plenty to explain regarding Shinji-kun's death!

"I'm deeply sorry about what just happened," Assassin replied. "For doubting you, for disobeying you, and for our losses from our engagement with the boy just now."

Zouken grunted as he sat on the divan. "It's too late for any form of forgiveness, Servant! We had the superior numbers at the onset of this War! And now, we are now left with 19 of you! How can I accept meaningless losses like these? You have lost 61, but without a single kill at the very least!"

Assassin bowed lower still. "We have no excuses, Master. It is as you say."

"Whatever, I will be putting you to work immediately then," Zouken replied curtly. "Go with Shinji to eliminate the other Masters and Servants immediately. Now that he has been reanimated by me, he is capable of providing assistance for you."

"Understood, Master. Please forgive us yet again," Assassin replied, bowing as he returned to ethereal form.

Zouken clicked his tongue. No matter how hard he tried, there is no way to bring his stupid grandson back to life. There was nothing he could do about the fact that Shinji is only present in body. However, having him in this form allowed for a measure of battle ability that was beyond what he could ever achieve when he was still alive. For Matou Zouken, victory was very critical for him as his newfound resolve was to wish for his stupid grandson to return.

If only it was that simple for Matou Zouken, who was very much unaware of the disaster he had just created.

* * *

 _London, England._

"This is ridiculous, I have only just arrived at England for a few days and I have to return now." Ciel grumbled to herself. "Never before has the Agency taken any notice of something that is not even their concern."

Ciel stared at the contents of the paper that contained her orders for a moment longer and promptly tossed the paper aside after a lengthy sigh. Getting up from her chair, she began to pack her gear.

"I guess I'll be getting my curry feast sooner rather than later, Emiya-san," Ciel mumbled to herself. She wasn't sure if she should be overjoyed to get the opportunity to savour more curry, or if she should be dissatisfied with the Agency.

After all, the Matous were never considered to be vampires by any stretch of the imagination.

Despite that knowledge being a well established and longstanding fact, whether it is to the Mage's Association or the Burial Agency, there has been reports about the occurrence of a "potential vampire infestation" in Fuyuki City.

The only thing separating the word "potential" for both the Association and the Agency was the lack of a credible report from either an agent of the Association or a member of the clergy.

Among the clergy, only Ciel had nothing else of note to handle, which provided the reason for her assignment to such a case which required some investigation.

Even if it wasn't an order from the Agency, such a rumour would normally pique her interest - if it did not challenge an established fact such as "Matou Zouken is not considered a vampire even though he devours a human once in a long while".

Nevertheless, Ciel - who has just finished packing her gear and is now tearing to shreds the paper containing her orders - was now about to be somewhat involved in the War at Fuyuki City.

* * *

 _Old Forest, Fuyuki City_

"Accept it, boy," Rider said. "As a magus, I'd say you are quite the formidable one, but Caster is on a different level altogether."

"Shut up, Rider! Here I was thinking that you despised me enough. Just don't distract me any more than I am now with your snide remarks!"

"Forget it, boy!" Rider urged. "I assessed you fairly when I said that you were a formidable magus. Whether you take it as a snide remark or not, that's up to you. Lest you forget my words, Caster herself is a magus. To top it off, she is a Servant! How could you possibly match the magecraft of a Servant when a mere human cannot hope to match a Servant in combat?"

"Explain to me then, why Lancer can lose to a 'mere human'? What about Berserker's first skirmish with a 'mere human' like Emiya Shiro?"

"The details regarding Lancer's defeat is still lacking in details, so I suggest you do not give credit where it isn't due. Regarding Berserker's first skirmish, didn't he have to save his Master's life above all?"

"Enough with the distractions," Bram muttered under his breath. "It's difficult enough to try and disable Caster's Bounded Field so we can enter undetected. Your yapping doesn't help me concentrate either!"

"We should just charge in, boy," Rider urged. "Irregardless of whether you can disable the Bounded Field or not, Caster _will_ know, and there will be a trap laid out nonetheless!"

Bram cursed in frustration and slumped to a seated position on the ground.

"Look, boy. As eager as you are to prove yourself to be a capable Master, you have to pick and choose your battles."

"So you're saying I should abandon the idea of going after Caster, when her lair is right in front of me?" Bram demanded.

Rider let out a long sigh when it became apparent that Bram did not understand his point. Striding over to Bram, he grabbed Bram by his arm and hoisted him up. "I'm saying this, Master!" Rider bellowed, stunning Bram. "Forget trying to sneak into Caster's lair! We are charging in instead!"

"W-w-what…?" Bram stammered. "Did you just call me-"

"Sir Bram! Wait!" Bree called out as she ran towards Bram together with Viola.

"There is more to Caster right now than we know!" Viola continued. "My familiar has relayed the details of the Church's summoning!"

Bram's ears perked upon hearing the news. "What did you learn from the summons?"

"There were three things, actually. Caster is actually the least of our concerns, but she has gone and done something unacceptable!"


	20. Act 4: Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Lord El-Melloi II clenched his fist when he learned of the reasons behind the Mediator's summons.

"This is truly a disaster, as the Mediator said."

Shiro's fists were also clenched tightly, and his hunched posture made it apparent that he was trying his best to keep his rage in check. "Matou Zouken… I must take him down for what he has done!"

"Hold on, Shiro," Rin urged. "We can't exactly go after Zouken first without first taking down Shinji and locating Sakura."

"We could always beat that old fox and squeeze the answers out of him," Shiro muttered angrily.

"I think Emiya has a point," Lord El-Melloi II ventured, puffing the smoke from his cigar. "I have to warn you though, that by pursuing Matou Zouken directly, you could be playing right into his game."

"Caren Hortensia did mention that there is a representative from the Church who will be arriving here within the next 18 hours to assist in our elimination of the vampires," Rin continued. "If we have assistance on that front, we should consider taking advantage of the confusion to locate Sakura first."

Shiro paused to work out the options he had. Pacing about the room briskly, he mumbled to himself incoherently. After a brief moment of doing that, Shiro finally stopped.

"Archer should head out with Luvia-san to locate and retrieve Sakura, while Tohsaka and Saber should locate and take Matou Zouken down."

Luvia was confused by Shiro's plan. "Eh? But-"

"Archer's ability would be very suitable for searching a vast amount of territory for a target," Shiro began. "Instead of eliminating this particular target, Archer and yourself should move in to rescue that target."

"I'm not against your plan, but I have never met this Sakura that you're talking about," Luvia replied.

"Archer has seen her once, so hopefully he will be able to remember her."

"What will you do, then?" Luvia asked.

"I will provide support for Tohsaka and yourself," Shiro replied. "That way, I will be able to draw the attention of Assassin, who I believe is very motivated to avenge the loss I inflicted on them."

"Wait, how are you supposed to defeat Assassin, when you have no idea how to detect their presence?" Rin asked nervously.

"I know exactly what to plan for this time," Shiro replied with a grin. "I'm going to need your help, though."

"That is settled then," Lord El-Melloi II said suddenly. "Now, after we handle the matter of Matou Zouken, we must quickly return to work out a solution in regards to the problem caused by Caster. Got it?"

"Understood," Shiro, Rin, and Luvia replied quickly as they set off.

* * *

"Damn that Caster!" Bram cursed. "So the Church has decided not to allow the news to leak out?"

"That sounds like the case alright," Viola replied. "There is also the matter of the vampire infestation caused by Matou Zouken which the Church said they are sending an agent from the Burial Agency to assist in dealing with the problem."

"And the Mediator wants us all to cease all activities regarding the Grail War?" Rider asked.

"It seems like it," Viola replied. "Apparently we are to focus on eliminating the vampires and to deal with Caster together with Lord El-Melloi II's faction before we resume hostilities."

"I don't like the idea of doing so," Bree grumbled.

"No, you don't," Rider responded. "But we will do it."

"What!?" Bree exclaimed. Her distress was made bare as she cast a glare at Rider, forgetting that there was nothing she could do if Rider was not pleased with her reaction.

"You know, woman," Rider scoffed. "You would have made for a good example of what happens to someone who defies me." Striding towards Bree, who was still unmoved by Rider's show of strength, Rider leaned forward until his face was barely a few inches away from hers. His face turned grim, which caused Bree to feel a wave of unease. "You don't look like you know a lot of strategy, so I shall educate you on the merits of doing things with a purpose." Rider straightened himself up and turned away, leaving Bree trembling in her unease. "There was a saying I picked up from a kingdom far to the east of my borders." Turning to face Bree, he closed his eyes in reminiscence, which somehow appeared as if he was remembering an old acquaintance. "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." Opening his eyes again, he made his intentions clear. "We will cease this fight with Archer, Saber, and that kid, and take up arms against Caster and the other vampire threat."

"And you wish to take the opportunity to remove Archer, Saber, and Emiya Shiro either during or after this common enemy is eliminated, no?" Bram asked.

"Hmph," Rider chuckled. "You have done well to understand the advantage it presents. You are definitely catching on now."

"I think it is a good course of action. All we need to do is work out a way to execute it," Bram continued.

Rider remained silent for a moment. Before long, he turned to Bram and the others. "There is indeed a course of action that will work to our advantage."

* * *

"You better be careful, Shiro," Rin urged.

"Ah. I will," Shiro replied. "But I must take Assassin out no matter what."

"Are you sure you can handle this?" Rin asked. "Saber can remain here to assist you. I can handle Zouken by myself."

"No," Shiro insisted. "It's going to defeat the purpose of the trap we set here."

"But-"

"I don't trust Zouken, even for the least bit," Shiro said dismissively. "I'd rather have Saber protect you. After all, without you, what am I going to do?"

" _Baka_ Shiro," Rin pouted. "Have you ever wondered what would become of me if _you_ were gone?"

Shiro pulled Rin close and embraced her. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Mmm. Okay," Rin whimpered, burying her face in Shiro's chest and returning his embrace for a moment before pushing him back. "Don't be stubborn. If you are in trouble, call for me. I will return with Saber."

"Ah."

"If you don't, I'm going to have you clean up after everything for the rest of your life!"

Shiro chuckled. "As if I'm not already doing all the housework back home, am I now?"

"Wh-whatever, _baka_!" Rin stuck her tongue out in defiance of Shiro's playful jab, before turning to Saber, who was chuckling at the exchange. "Let's go find Zouken, Saber!"

Shiro only smiled in return. It was certainly a long time since Rin acted like her sixteen-year-old self, and it was a refreshing sight for him.

Just maybe, if they returned to London, he would do his best to bring that side of Rin out more often.

All he had to do was to survive the upcoming onslaught from Assassin, at the very least.

* * *

"It's terrible, Master!" Assassin reported. "Your… grandson… he's out of control!"

"What!?" Zouken exclaimed. To say that he was startled was barely enough to accurately describe his reaction.

"He has been devouring just about anyone who was nearby him, and we also lost one of our own who was assigned to accompany him!"

Zouken trembled at the news. Indeed, it was a gamble to reanimate his grandson through the use of his Crest Worms. However, because the rapidly multiplying Crest Worms required prana from a living being, Shinji was just unable to be a proper host for the Worms, which resulted in their seeking out of live human flesh.

There was an even greater cause of concern. The Crest Worms that attacked and killed innocent bystanders was also unable to return to Shinji's body, which resulted in these Worms remaining in the corpse of their victim, reanimating the said corpse.

Based on the basic mechanics of this situation, Zouken realised that he had just triggered an event which would incur the wrath of the Association and the Church. Horrified, Zouken stumbled onto his feet and hobbled towards the exit of his mansion. "Recall every one of yourself, Assassin! We have to right this wrong!"

Assassin was unable to react to Zouken's command as the ceiling above him gave way, and a massive, hulking figure dropped in from above, crushing Assassin.

"I figured that you would be here, you heretic!" Viola declared.

"What… How did you find me?" Zouken demanded.

"The Church was kind enough to furnish us with information about you, and I wasted no time in using my skill and training to locate you," Viola replied. "The Church has ordered a ceasefire between all combatants in the Grail War, and you are one of the causes for this ceasefire."

"No… wait!" Zouken pleaded. It was a mistake!"

"I'm not interested in any excuse you propagate here," Viola replied coldly. "Berserker! Crush him!"

Berserker roared as he charged forward towards Zouken, raising his fist up to strike. Zouken could only raise his hand up in self defense before Berserker's fist hammered Zouken, crushing his body under the sheer power of Berserker's blow.

"Hmph, that was quite easy."

"I beg to differ," Matou Zouken's voice was heard from underneath Berserker's fist.

"What!?" Viola exclaimed. "Berserker just crushed you… but you're still alive?"

"You're well informed of my location, but sadly, you're ill informed about me," Zouken replied as his body began to dissolve. Crest Worms were seen crawling away from Berserker and dispersing into different directions.

"Running away, are you now!" Viola demanded.

"Hardly," Zouken's voice was heard again. "I have to deal with my stupid grandson, so I don't have time to play with you."

The sound of a blade driven into human flesh reverberated in the room, followed by Viola's weak grunt as she felt the pain of being stabbed in the abdomen.

"Perhaps, you could play with Assassin," Zouken continued. "But I suppose you're not in any condition to do so now, are you not?"

Ber… ser… ker…" Viola whimpered.

Another Assassin had taken the opportunity presented by Berserker leaving Viola's side to attack Zouken to drive his blade into Viola. Berserker, despite losing his sanity, was able to comprehend the situation; his Master was in grave danger and needed rescuing. Rushing back to Viola's side, he was able to quickly dispatch the Assassin that stabbed Viola and pick her up to retreat.

Before Berserker could retreat, however, he was surrounded by the remaining Assassins, who was standing around the hole in the ceiling.

"Our Master has ordered us to return so that we can eliminate his assailant. Therefore, you shall not survive our attack!"

Berserker roared as he used his free arm to punch his way through the wall, creating an escape route in which Berserker quickly used to get out of the mansion.

"You're not getting away!" Assassin declared as they gave chase. However, before they could close the gap on Berserker, who was already outside the mansion, they were fired upon by Shiro, who was standing on the roof of a tall building a distance away.

"It's that kid!" Assassin muttered angrily. "Master! That kid seems to have allied himself with Berserker against us!"

"They have apparently called for a ceasefire," Zouken's voice replied. As of now, everyone is an enemy. Dispatch them all, and do it quickly!"

Nodding among themselves, the Assassins split into two groups. Three of the Assassins continued their pursuit of Berserker, while the remaining 15 Assassins turned to approach Shiro, who continued firing on the Assassins.

* * *

"Just so you know, I've got Assassin's attention. But there are three of them who are pursuing Konig-san. She seems to be injured, though," Shiro said calmly while he fired a barrage of arrows at Assassin.

"I saw them. Saber and I will dispatch them," came Rin's telepathic reply.

"Alright. Let's get this done quick so we can-"

A long pause in Shiro's sentence was discomforting for Rin.

"Shiro?" Rin called out telepathically. "What happened?"

"... Assassin disappeared. They're concealing their presence. I'll talk to you later," Shiro replied.

Shiro glanced around furtively. He was well aware of Assassin's Presence Concealment and their way of eliminating a target. Tracing Kansho and Bakuya, Shiro began to scan the area around him frequently.

The Assassins surrounded Shiro, who was still unable to see them due to their concealed presence, and prepared to strike. Unlike what happened the night before where they took turns to strike Shiro, they planned to strike all at the same time. For Assassin, there was no time to give Shiro a slow, painful death. Instead, they had to dispatch him immediately, so that they can carry on with their task of eliminating every threat posed toward their Master.

Three.

All the Assassins tightened their grip on their blades and crouched down on the ground.

Two.

Muscles tensed, and their eyes narrowed, focusing on their target.

One.

The Assassins sprang themselves forward and lunged at Shiro, who was still unable to see where they were. It was going to be a swift and easy kill.

They were gravely mistaken, however.

From the moment Assassin came within ten meters of Shiro, they were suddenly engulfed in flames, which exposed their presence, on top of burning them.

"How!?" Assassin grunted as they tried to put out the flames.

"Trace, on."

Shiro was quick to project swords around him, which he used to take aim at every single burning Assassin that surrounded him.

"Fire!"

The flames that engulfed the Assassins surrounding Shiro were reflected by the orange glint in the weapons as they flew towards Assassin. Within an instant, the swords met their marks, creating several cascades of blood which seemed to form deep crimson liquid petals on the ground around Shiro.

Of the 15 Assassins that surrounded Shiro, 14 of them were killed outright, but one Assassin was spared, albeit on purpose. However, the surviving Assassin had a sword driven through his spinal column just below the neck, which prevented him from being able to fight back or flee.

Shiro quickly strode towards the paralysed Assassin and picked him up by the face. As more swords were quickly projected around Assassin, Shiro promptly ripped the white skull mask, and slammed his head on the ground.

"Speak now. Where did you hide Sakura?"

"Ugh..!" Assassin groaned in pain. "Why should I tell?"

"Speak!" Shiro demanded, releasing his hand from Assassin's neck and grabbing the handle of the sword that was driven into Assassin's body, driving it further in and pinning Assassin to the ground.

Assassin spat at Shiro, which stirred Shiro's anger further, causing Shiro to begin twisting the blade, causing more pain for Assassin. "I won't let you off this easily, so you'd better spill it or else I guarantee you that your pain will only continue!"

"I'm not so sure of that," Assassin grinned gingerly.

Shiro's face darkened as he took a step back from Assassin and began looking around furtively again. The traced swords that hovered around Assassin returned to Shiro, forming a defensive circle surrounding him. Of course, this Assassin isn't the last one.

True enough, a sudden burst of flame to Shiro's left confirmed his suspicions. One of Shiro's traced swords glinted in the flame as it flew and reached its mark, killing yet another Assassin.

"... Who could have guessed?" Assassin grimaced. "You laid a very elaborate trap here for us."

"Shut up, Assassin," Shiro replied curtly, returning to grab the handle of the sword lodged in Assassin's spinal column and twisting it again, prompting more groans of anguish from Assassin.

"You are very… smart indeed, kid," Assassin continued despite the pain he was put through. "Who… knew that you'd… place a Bounded Field that ignites whoever enters it?"

"Save your breath to answer my question, damn it!" Shiro growled.

Assassin coughed up more blood as he struggled against the pain. "Alright! Alright! Just kill me off after you're finished with me!"

"Tell me what I want to hear, and I will finish you off, then."

"M.. Master's granddaughter is now located in a cave at the mountain shrine."

"Mount Enzou… Ryuudou Temple!" Shiro muttered, releasing the handle of the sword, and allowing the blade to dematerialise.

"Ugh… hey, kid!" Assassin groaned. "We had a deal! Finish me off!"

"The deal's off, Assassin," Shiro replied, tracing a length of rope in his hands and beginning to tie Assassin to it.

Assassin winced in pain as he was forcibly moved about by Shiro, who was busy tying Assassin's body. "I told you everything I know!"

"You didn't exactly tell me what I want to hear," Shiro replied coldly. "So you're coming with me to Ryuudo Temple, and you're going to get me inside that cave."

Assassin's pained cries were ignored by Shiro as he dragged Assassin on the ground behind him. "Rin. Did you finish off the Assassins sent after you?"

"Saber killed two Assassins, Shiro. There were three of them who were after Konig-san, but one of them turned to go somewhere else," Rin's telepathic reply came.

"Oh, that one? He walked right into the Bounded Field you created. Going by the calculations, there is only one Assassin left, and he is now with me."

"What? How-"

"I'm fine, don't worry. I need you to come back and disable the Bounded Field now. After that, we need to go to Ryuudo Temple as soon as we can."

"Shiro, Konig-san's life is in danger. The bleeding won't stop."

Shiro let out a sigh. "Alright. Then work on saving her first, then get over here to disable the Bounded Field. Meet me at Ryuudo Temple after that, okay? I will be going on ahead of you."

"Are you sure?" Rin asked. "You might be walking into a trap."

"I've got Assassin tied up here, so I will use him to get past the trap," Shiro replied. "Whatever it is though, I'll see you in a bit."

"You thought you can use me to get past the traps now, don't you think you're getting ahead of yourself?" Assassin asked, cackling despite the blood he was coughing up.

"Whoever said I was going to rely on you to get in? I only said I would use you to get in, no matter how it's done," Shiro muttered.

* * *

"I must tell you that I'm grateful to you for ordering Berserker not to attack Saber or myself," Rin told Viola.

"Th-this is only… a temporary ceasefire," Viola replied as she continued to breathe laboriously. "You're still an enemy to me."

"It doesn't stop me from helping you, though," Rin replied. "Although I hope that we would permanently cease this stupid fight and work together to destroy the Grail."

"Hmph. You are truly insufferable," Viola huffed. Thanks to Rin's intervention and subsequent decision to heal her, Viola was now out of danger.

"When you see what the Grail is capable of, perhaps you will understand," Rin replied, turning her back to Viola and striding off toward Saber. "Be careful from here on. I have a bone to pick with Matou Zouken, so I have to leave you here."

"Tohsaka Rin!" Viola blurted out.

Rin turned around silently, casting a glance at Viola.

"T-thanks for saving Berserker and myself from Assassin."

Rin smiled. "You're welcome. And I'll be sure to pass the message to Shiro."


	21. Act 4: Chapter 3

**Author's Note**

 _It's been too long since I updated this fanfic. I must apologize, especially if you have been waiting for this a long time! Things have been going really at breakneck speed for me right after publishing Chapter 2. I finally get to sit down and write again after a long time, and I find that I have gotten pretty rusty. I honestly don't see things slowing down for me for quite a while more. My startup has been taking up a lot of my time, and it will continue to do so for quite a while more. Once things are running smoothly, I'll definitely get back to work on this to see it all to the end. Till then, please enjoy Chapter 3!_

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Mikhel van de Wolff tossed around the makeshift cushion he was lying on. He was relatively bored and restless ever since he fled to the old forest together with Caster. In light of this, he stared out the window of the former Einzbern castle toward the twilight sky.

Mikhel and Caster was somehow able to stumble upon the former Einzbern castle in their search for a safe haven for Caster to set up her new workshop. Seeing as to how the uninhabited castle was protected by the Einzbern's Bounded Field, Caster was more than satisfied with the location.

Of course, getting past the Bounded Field was a cakewalk for a powerful magus like Morgan le Fay. On top of that, even if the Bounded Field was forcibly broken through, there was nobody within the castle who would respond to the event or to come out and confront them.

Mikhel turned away from the window and got up. After a moment of lazily stretching himself, he put on some clothes and he left the room.

He was still slightly groggy after spending the night with Caster. The two had hardly slept, so it was rather understandable that he was this tired. Caster, however, was nowhere to be found in the mansion. Considering how much prana Mikhel gave to Caster the night before, it wouldn't have been a surprise that Caster was up and about after spending the night with him.

As he approached the main hallway by the front entrance, the front door swung open. Caster waltzed into the mansion, looking cheery.

"You look happy, Caster."

"Oho? I am, indeed," Caster chirped. As she walked further into the mansion, Mikhel could see that she was followed closely by a group of men and boys. The youngest of them all looked very much like a high schooler, while the oldest of them all hardly looked like he was above the age of thirty. What bothered Mikhel apart from the fact that they are all men, was that these men were all trodding along behind Caster as if in a trance.

"Wh-wha-what are these people doing here?" Mikhel demanded.

"Worry not, Master. These are now our personal guard," Caster replied. "I would like to ensure that the two of us are properly protected from the other participants of the War, and that we have enough power to strike back at them."

"But… I am quite a capable fighter myself, am I not?" Mikhel asked nervously.

Caster looked at Mikhel momentarily and walked towards him, running her hand along his face. "I am concerned about your well-being, Master. If possible, I'd like to see to it that you receive nothing more than a scratch on this precious body of mine," she replied as her hands continued caressing Mikhel's body, drifting ever lower.

Mikhel exhaled slowly as he began to give in to his base desires, his hand beginning to return Caster's gentle caresses. "Surely you do not wish for me to be sitting around here while you are out there, risking your own life and limb too?"

"I do not wish to be out there too, but I have to continue going out there to recruit more soldiers to our cause," Caster replied.

"Mikhel's arms tightened around Caster, pulling her closer to him. "Isn't there another way to amass an army rather than by yourself?"

Caster was suddenly hit with a realisation and pulled away, breaking the mood between the two. "Master! You truly are a man well worth my match! I should have done this from the beginning!"

"Wh-what?"

"Master, please permit me to go out just one more time. I will not need to go out on my own to recruit more soldiers after this one trip," Caster said, smiling to herself. "I promise that the returns we get from this one trip would be well worth the time we are momentarily separated again."

* * *

Bram craned his neck to scour the city below him, searching for signs of Matou Zouken's vampires.

"I thought it would have become a full-blown problem by now, but I don't see anything out of the ordinary," Bree commented telepathically. She was at ground level, attempting to search the alleys and roads.

"These vampires could be in hiding since it's still day," Bram replied. "But you're right, though. It should have become a full-blown problem."

"There is also the report that the Church is aware of Caster's activities," Bree replied. "It seems that she has been busy recruiting men to join her cause, whatever that is."

"Knowing her methods, she isn't recruiting," Bram replied in an irksome manner. "Seducing would be more appropriate to describe what she would be doing!"

"Master! We have a big problem!" Bree exclaimed. "It's Matou Zouken's vampires!

"Where are you now?" Bram called out.

"I just got to the tallest building in the city, not too far from the bridge," Bree replied in haste. "Please get here quickly! There is only so much I can do to hold them off!"

"What?" Bram exclaimed silently. "Rider! We must hurry!"

"Understood, boy," Rider replied, urging his horse into a full gallop. The hooves of Othar rent the air, triggering a distortion in the balance of the air's electrical charges. Lightning flashed from these distortions, arching toward the nearest object that held an opposing electrical charge.

As Rider and Bram approached the Center Building of Fuyuki City, they were briefly stunned at the sight that befell them.

The streets below them were clogged with abandoned cars and there were numerous flashing lights belonging to the emergency response teams summoned to the scene. There was also a very large crowd emerging from within the building. The physical conditions of these people needed no explanation - these were all humans who were killed by Matou Zouken's worms and subsequently turned into vampires.

From behind the Center Building, away in the distance, was a convoy of military trucks attempting to enter the area via the clogged roadways.

"What a disaster…" Bram whispered.

"You have not seen anything yet, boy!" Rider growled. Unsheathing his sword, Rider spurred his horse downward towards the large gathering of vampires. "I will not let such abominations to survive!"

* * *

Viola struggled to her feet once the pain in her abdomen subsided. She heard the telepathic conversation between Bree and Bram and was able to ascertain the degree of trouble that they were in.

"B.. Berserker.. Let's go."

"Oho, where do you think you're going?"

"What!?" Viola exclaimed, turning around in a flash.

The figure standing behind her, a good distance away from Berserker, was unmistakable. After all, nobody could have forgotten her silver hair and her azure eyes which gave a sly stare to anyone who was willing to challenge her.

"Caster… you traitor!" Viola growled.

"Oh, please…" Caster began.

"Silence! I will not hear of anything from the likes of you!" Viola interrupted angrily. "Berserker! Crush her now!"

"Uuuu… UUUAAAAAAAGGHH!"

Berserker charged forward at pace, shredding the ground on which he stepped. Due to the sheer force of his footfall and with every subsequent push to propel him forward, his feet ripped grass and tiles apart, leaving a messy pothole behind. Berserker continued to charge forward at Caster and he raised his fists as he approached her.

"Now, now.. Don't be hasty, shall we?" Caster cooed, quickly tracing a pattern in the air before her. A surge of silvery energy pulsated from the pattern and quickly expanded before Caster, stopping Berserker's incoming fists.

"Rrrgh!?" Berserker grunted. He continued his attempt to land a hit on Caster, but his fists were continually stopped by the barrier that Caster erected. Caster sighed and traced another pattern in the air, its energy forming something that looked like magical cords which bound Berserker and kept him in one place despite his struggles.

"Your Servant is surely a very strong one, Master of Berserker," Caster said, smiling at Viola. "It's a shame that your own Master is fighting for a lost cause."

"Better than your misguided cause," Viola smiled slyly.

"Oh my," Caster gasped. "I don't suppose you realise that you're nothing but fodder for Rider and his Master, do you now?"

"Why do I care? It's not like I desire anything else but the Grail's preservation!" Viola replied.

"Surely you're more than just a lackey now, aren't you?" Caster asked. "As far as I'm aware, there should be a wish of yours hidden deep down somewhere, which the Grail could provide.. don't you think?"

"I don't have any other desires apart from the Grail's preservation!"

"Surely there is something that drives you to preserve the Grail, right?" Caster asked again. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have cared about it at all…"

"Ugh…" Viola grunted. "It.. it's of no matter to a traitor like you!

"Fu fu fu…" Caster giggled, covering her lips with the palm of her hand. "If it's of no matter, I suppose you don't mind if I take your Servant for myself now, don't you?"

Viola took a step back, gritting her teeth. "I'll never give Berserker up to the likes of you!"

"I never said anything about you giving Berserker to me," Caster replied coldly, her smile disappearing as she traced a new pattern in the air. "I had other plans when I first came back to this city, but now that a better prey appeared before me, I shall not leave this opportunity to waste."

"Berserker! Return to me!" Viola screamed. Considering how Berserker was bound, she might have to sacrifice her last Command Seal to set him free from those bonds.

However, Berserker did not respond to her command at all. There was an eerie silence as she stared at a motionless Berserker.

A sharp pain in her right arm grabbed Viola's attention and she quickly looked down at her hand…

… Only to find a bloodied stump from the wrist upwards…

Viola let out a bloodcurdling scream as she slumped to the ground. She could not look away from her bloodied stump as she continued to scream at it.

"Now, now…" Caster cooed, as she reached out to take Viola's severed hand from the tentacle that brought it to her. "I did you a favour by cauterizing your wound. I could have let you bleed to death, but I suppose that you could still make yourself useful now, don't you think? I could take Berserker for myself and form a contract with him, or you can follow me and retain your contract with Berserker."

Viola's eyes were soaked with tears, but it did not prevent her anger from being easily visible by Caster when Viola stared at her.

"It's your choice, really. Do you want to retain your contract with Berserker, or do you want to discard your contract with him?"

* * *

Caren Hortensia sighed as she placed both sheets of paper on her study table. Burying her head in her hands, she let out a little groan before standing up again.

"It's going to be a very complicated thing, these orders," Ciel said, leaning on her Seventh Holy Scripture. "The Association has mobilised many of their magi to contain and control the flow of information outside of Fuyuki City, and to ensure that the existence of magi, the Association and the Grail War remains a secret."

Caren narrowed her eyes as Ciel continued.

"Likewise, the Church has also mobilised Executioners as well as myself, a member of the Burial Agency, to assist in the cleanup of this disaster. Of course, we are also committed to ensuring that the existence of our kind remains a secret."

"How exactly is it possible to ensure that our organisations and this Grail War remains a secret?" Caren asked, appearing nonplussed upon hearing Ciel's statement.

"What else can we do?" Ciel replied, unperturbed by the question. "The usual, of course. Memory Reprogramming, gag orders… you know what we usually do. Just that we have to do it on a very large scale.

"This… this… I c-can't even begin to describe how absurd the situation is," Caren stammered.

Ciel said nothing in reply to Caren's words. Instead, she spun quickly around and walked out of the room, her weapon in tow. "Emiya Shiro is still alive, I assume?"

"Ah… Yes, I believe he still is," Caren replied.

"Good. This is nostalgic," Ciel answered quietly as she walked away.

* * *

"I already told you, master's granddaughter is inside the cave here!" Assassin groaned.

Shiro paid no heed to Assassin's complaints as he alighted from his motorcycle and untied Assassin's legs from the back seat. Shiro was somehow able to avoid suspicion largely due to the chaos caused by Matou Zouken's vampires, as more people in the city were beginning to be devoured now that the sun was beginning to set.

"You might as well just kill me and get it over and done with!"

"Shut up, Assassin," Shiro demanded. "I will end your life, but certainly not in a a way you expected me to do earlier." Thrusting Assassin before Shiro at an arm's length, Shiro began navigating the cave beneath Mount Enzou in search of Sakura.

"Ha. Hahahaha.. I see…" Assassin groaned again as he laughed. "I'm merely fodder for any traps set by my Master, no?"

"It's more than what you deserve," Shiro replied sternly.

"Really now, there is no trap here. Master only had his granddaughter moved here very recently," Assassin insisted.

"Trusting you or Matou Zouken is just asking to be stabbed at the back," Shiro muttered. "Shut up and walk!"

Before long, Shiro and Assassin arrived at the entrance to a large cavern which seemed to be at least thirty feet high and as large as a baseball field. Massive amounts of prana could be felt from within the cave walls and underneath the cave floor.

And there, in the middle of the cavern, laid Sakura.

"Sakura!" Shiro exclaimed. Dragging Assassin along with him, Shiro made his way to Sakura, holding Assassin at arms length as he knelt down to examine her limp form. Shiro breathed a sigh of relief when he ascertained that Sakura was still alive thanks to the regular rise and fall of her body as she breathed.

"Shiro! Where are you?"

Rin's voice could be heard coming from the passage that Shiro was in earlier. Shiro dropped Assassin and called out to Rin. Within moments, Saber and Rin arrived at Shiro's side.

"So Assassin brought you here?" Rin quizzed.

"He was merely fodder for me while I was in here. You know, just in case there were traps lying around here," Shiro replied matter-of-factly.

"I told you there was none," Assassin grumbled.

"I'm disappointed, Assassin," Shiro replied angrily. "Killing you myself is much too dissatisfying, but you probably deserve a better death, then."

Almost immediately, a traced blade appeared above Assassin and plunged into Assassin's head, killing him immediately.

What happened after that caught the attention of Shiro, Rin, and Saber.

As Assassin's body dissolved, his essence began circulating around the cave before it rose up through the ceiling of the cave. The cave began rumbling very slightly, but nevertheless, the rumbling couldn't be ignored by the three.

"Come on, we have to take Sakura out of here," Rin urged. "We will have to come back here to deal with what's beneath this cavern later!"

"Not until after we deal with Shinji and the vampires," Shiro replied, sounding irritated.

* * *

"There seems to be no end to this!" Bree exclaimed.

The vampire infestation seemed to have spread over a wide area during the night, and the vampires took shelter at the Center Building in the city when day began to break. Now that the sun had set, the vampires had begun to pour out of the building and dispersed, causing a major outbreak. Just how such a catastrophic event claiming thousands of lives escaped the attention of the city inhabitants as well as the attention of the secular media for essentially the whole day boggled the mind, to say the least.

Nonetheless, that which has happened, has happened. Bree, along with Bram and Rider entered the fray and has been trying for the past five minutes to destroy the vampires. The trouble with doing so wasn't so much as why they were incapable of unleashing a powerful attack to decimate the vampire numbers, but more of why they were not allowed to do so.

To make matters worse, Viola was nowhere to be found, and any attempt to locate her or establish any form of communication with her was met with an eerie lack of a response.

"Sir Bram, what of Viola?" Bree urged.

"I don't know!" Bram replied sharply. "We don't have the luxury of trying to locate her right now!"

"I'm afraid something must have happened to her when she went after Matou Zouken!" Bree responded worryingly.

"She is in a better position to do so because she has Berserker with her!" Bram answered. "Right now, we have to stop this infestation from spreading. The Association would never accept such an event happening at such a large scale!"

"Indeed you are right, Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri…"

Both Bram and Bree turned around, startled by the oddly familiar voice that spoke behind them.

"B-B-Bartomeloi Lorelai!?" Bram exclaimed.

"Is this the first time you laid your eyes on me?" Lorelai sighed, as she motioned for the members of her Chelon Canticle Brigade standing behind her to deal with the vampires while she took care of business. "It's understood, though. Nobody has ever seen me set foot outside of the Clock Tower for a while now."

"What _are_ you doing here?" Bram demanded.

"Same reason why many of the top magi from the Association is here, as well as the Executioners of the Church and one member of the Burial Agency," Lorelai replied coolly. "We have an infestation to clean up."

"Surely a clean-up operation such as this doesn't require your direct participation?" Bram asked, casting a sideways glance at Lorelai.

"You know more than anyone else here how much I detest these creatures," Lorelai replied."Besides that, things are not that simple at such a scale," Lorelai continued. "Officially, I am here to oversee the task of keeping everybody quiet about the existence of the Grail War."

"Has the existence of the War and the Association been found out?" Bree wondered aloud.

"Who knows," Lorelai answered quietly. "The Association Director doesn't wish for the Grail to be brought back, however."

"What!?" Bram asked, surprised by Lorelai's statement.

"The Director has decided that the existence of the Association to non-magi does not justify the reasoning that the Grail should have been brought back," Lorelai explained.

"What exactly… do you mean?" Bram urged.

Lorelai exhaled sharply. "The Grail is no longer desired by the Association, to put it bluntly. Your feud with Lord El-Melloi II is to cease immediately!"

"What about the other magi who wanted to bring this back in the first place?" Bram demanded again.

"They changed their mind. In fact, if you wish to speak to them directly, they are here in Fuyuki City, dealing with the infestation."

Bram was struck speechless at the realisation that everything he has done up to this point was for nothing. Fuming, he called for Rider and Bree to leave with him.

"You're giving up just like that?" Bree asked.

"There is no way I will give this up," Bram grumbled. "They can do without the Grail, but I will still win this War and gain the opportunity to right this wrong!"

* * *

"Considering the scale of the Association's mobilisation, it seems that things have turned rather serious," Lord El-Melloi II muttered.

"There is that, and there is still the other matter of destroying the Grail," Luvia continued. "I wonder if Shero and Miss Gorilla found Matou Zouken already."

"Leave it to them to find Matou Zouken," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "We really have to locate-"

"Hey, it seems that the kid already found this Sakura girl," Archer interrupted as he leapt down from this vantage point. "I caught sight of them coming out of a cave at the mountain not too far from here."

"It seems that Emiya Shiro beat us to it," Lord El-Melloi II answered. "All is well, then. Now all of us can get down to stopping the infestation and Caster, and we can destroy the Grail that's hidden deep within Mount Enzou."

"Lord El-Melloi II," Rin's voice was heard telepathically. "We found Sakura. There's no need to search for her anymore."

"I heard about that from Archer," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "What about Matou Zouken?"

"There's no sign of him anywhere, even from within his mansion," Rin replied. Konig-san and Berserker was in there earlier and got attacked by Assassin, so I assume that he wasn't there for a while or that something happened in there."

"Very well," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "We'll proceed to the Matou residence and take a look there."

"We'll leave Sakura with Taiga first, and we'll join up with you after that," Rin replied.

"Who's… Taiga?" Lord El-Melloi II asked, puzzled by the sudden mention of someone he had no prior contact with.

"Ah, well… It's too long of a story," Rin replied hastily. "Shiro will fill you in on that afterwards."


	22. Act 4: Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**

 _I'm finally back with another chapter, after some months. I may not be able to post new chapters very regularly, but I'd like everyone to know that I have not forgotten about this no matter how busy I have been. Thanks for the continued support!_

 _There were a few excited comments about Taiga meeting with a married Shiro and Rin. It's all planned out and it will definitely happen, just not right now. Till then, enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Viola swallowed hard as she followed Caster back into the old forest. The fear of how Caster would have killed her earlier was enough for Viola to submit to Caster's demands and ended up following her.

"Now, don't you bother trying to call the Master of Rider or the Master of Lancer for help," Caster warned, her voice kept low, which sounded intimidating to Viola despite the smooth texture of Caster's voice. "I already placed a mental block on you for good measure, but who knows, you might have had something else up your sleeve, do you not?"

Viola struggled to speak. The mental block placed on her weighed too heavily on her mind, and she was unable to utter a word due to the pressure that was placed on her mind.

"Hmmm.. I take your silence as consent, then," Caster smiled slyly.

"There is no way I would consent to the likes of you!"

That was what Viola would have screamed if she had the chance to. However hard she tried, none of those words ever left her vocal chords. Tears of resignation flowed down Viola's cheeks, which Caster took much pleasure of seeing.

Caster smiled as she ran a finger playfully along Viola's trembling jawline, giggling when Viola flinched away. "Fu fu fu… I'm quite looking forward to taking you to my Master. There is much to talk about, I'd imagine. Oh, and there is also much to do, with all that has happened in the past few days." Turning around, Caster began to walk again. "Come now, love. Master is expecting me already.

* * *

It was fairly easy for Shiro, Rin, and Saber to make their way to Taiga Fujimura's residence that night.

The roads within Miyama Town bore an eerie, silent atmosphere, almost seemingly like a scene straight out of a horror flick. Thanks to rumors of an outbreak of a "highly contagious mutated strain of rabies" which began in Fuyuki City, much of the inhabitants of Miyama Town have locked themselves in their homes, while a few others made the decision to try and leave the city as fast as possible. However, these people soon discovered that the mass panic had inadvertently caused a major blockage of every transportation network heading in and out of the city.

The truth is, however, far more outlandish and unbelievable.

If word emerged of a battle royale between mages gone awry, there would have been a massive shift in the paradigm of mere commoners.

The truth was something that neither the Mages Association nor the Church were willing to disclose to the world at large, and therefore took extreme measures to protect the secrecy of this War, and the existence of Magi, in essence.

"I heard that even Bartomeloi Lorelai is here, along with her Chelon Canticle Brigade," Rin told Shiro, holding on tightly to him as he deftly maneuvered the Kawasaki GPZ900R through the streets leading up to Taiga's residence.

"It's become that serious?" Shiro wondered aloud.

"Mmm. It has," Rin replied.

"Are you sure that this is the right thing to do?" Saber asked as she kept pace with Shiro effortlessly, even while carrying Sakura on her back.

"You mean sending Sakura to Taiga?" Shiro asked.

"I don't mean that she is not capable of caring for Sakura, but Taiga does not know the truth about us," Saber urged.

Rin sighed. "I know, but between Taiga and anybody else right now, there is nobody whom we know that can do this."

"You did say that the Mages Association is in Fuyuki City right now," Saber replied.

"They are, and so is the Church," Rin answered. "But they are all indisposed right now."

"Yeah, they are not going to be able to care for and protect Sakura for the time being," Shiro replied.

"Shiro and I don't completely trust the Association either," Rin added. "The fact that we had to participate in yet another War at the behest of Lord El-Melloi II, who tried his best to stop this War from taking place, has been a slap in our faces as far as trusting the Association goes."

Saber's face bore the look of mild resignation upon hearing what Shiro and Rin had to say. "I just hope that Taiga doesn't end up getting into any trouble for what we are asking her to do, that's all."

"I'm also afraid of what might happen, if you think about it," Shiro replied, slowing his motorcycle down to a stop.

"Shiro?" Rin and Saber asked in unison.

"We don't know for certain what could happen if we get Taiga involved," Shiro reiterated. "We might have to figure something out by ourselves until we know for certain that Sakura is out of danger, and by extension, Taiga as well."

"A wise decision, I must tell you," Lord El-Melloi replied all of a sudden, arriving at the same location together with Luvia and Archer.

"Ugh, you startled me!" Rin exclaimed. "Just where did you appear out of?"

"Lord El-Melloi II had Archer bring him and myself to catch up to you all," Luvia answered. "He was hesitant about you involving someone who has no idea about the existence of the Association."

"It's due to the fact that Matou Sakura is currently serving as the vessel to the Grail, she might undergo some changes that a non-magus will have a hard time understanding, much less coming to terms with," Lord El-Melloi II stressed. "I'm sure you recall what happened to Matou Shinji in the previous War, no? I read the reports, and I am aware of what might happen to anyone who is serving as a vessel to the Grail."

"You have a point there," Shiro replied.

"If that is the case, who can we turn to for help?" Rin asked.

"We don't have a choice but to take care of Matou Sakura by ourselves," Lord El-Melloi II answered.

"And how are we supposed to do that? We are short of hands now, considering the situation we are in," Shiro muttered. "We still have that bastard to hunt down and get rid of."

"We have to return Matou Sakura to the cave where you found her."

"There!?" Rin exclaimed.

"Don't you remember what our plan is, in regards to the Greater Grail?" Shiro asked hesitantly.

"I remember," Lord El-Melloi answered matter-of-factly. "Believe me, I know what we must do. I will be in that cave along with her, for I have much to do in that cave, and I will setup a Bounded Field to alert all of you if there is an intrusion by any Servant. I also have Trimmau to provide some degree of protection until you get back to the cave."

Shiro paused for a moment to work out how Lord El-Melloi II's plan was able to fit into the grand scheme of things. While he sat on his motorcycle formulating his plans, a familiar voice spoke from somewhere behind him.

"Fancy meeting you here, Emiya-san."

"Ciel!" Rin exclaimed.

"I was wondering who the Church's representative would be," Shiro said, flashing a small grin. "Who knew that it would be a member of the Burial Agency."

"The mages from the Association and myself have already begun rounding up Matou Zouken's vampires for culling," Ciel reported, acknowledging Shiro and Rin's greetings with a nod. "For the time being, Bartomeloi Lorelai and her Brigade have turned their attention into finding and destroying the vampires, while the rest of the mages have turned their attention into keeping the information controlled."

"So I assume that we don't need to be out there dealing with the vampires anymore?" Luvia asked.

"It's highly likely that you will find yourself having nothing to do, unless you encounter any vampires in your way," Ciel replied. "The Association and the Church really went all out in mobilising their forces to keep everything quiet."

"How many casualties did this city suffer?" Shiro asked.

"The Association estimated that they will be culling a total of 50,000 vampires. For all we know, it could be even more than that."

"That's nearly a fourth of the city's population!" Shiro replied, seething as he clenched his fists. "All this for what reason, Matou Zouken!?"

"It could have been worse," Ciel replied. "At the very least, be thankful that the Association and the Church mobilised us early on, and in great numbers."

"Yeah, and it was done only to protect the secret of their own existence!" Shiro argued. "You don't think that the Association or the Church has a sense of doing so because it is the right thing to do?"

"That I do not know," Ciel replied. "Whatever it is, they ended up making a wise decision."

"That is not our concern now, Emiya," Lord El-Melloi II said, stepping forward. "We must get back to what we planned to do."

"If I may ask, what do you plan to do from here on?" Ciel asked.

"I'm going to the cave underneath the mountain, because the Greater Grail is located within that cave," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "I need to find a way to destroy the Greater Grail."

"I read about it from the Mediator," Ciel replied. "There is a catastrophic event that would take place some years from now which will destroy the Grail if is left unchecked, right?"

"Indeed, it will," Lord El-Melloi II replied simply. "It is definitely a well-planned event, with meticulous preparations made beforehand."

"Who would have had the ability and the audacity to do such a thing?" Ciel asked.

"That person… Is none other than Emiya Kiritsugu."

Everyone's heads turned towards Shiro, with the exception of Archer, who remained clueless of the whole exchange.

"Emiya… You mean your father?" Ciel asked.

Shiro nodded silently.

"Your father, who realised the danger of allowing the Grail's existence, wanted to ensure that this farce would not continue to plague Fuyuki City, and in extension, all of mankind. Therefore, he detonated several explosives along the leylines of Fuyuki City, which caused a buildup of prana in the ground around Fuyuki City," Lord El-Melloi II explained.

"Thus, when there is sufficient prana all built up along these faults, it would trigger an earthquake which would cause the ground above the Grail to collapse onto it," Luvia concluded.

"It's a brilliant plan," Lord El-Melloi II opined. "And a very fitting plan, given your father's nature."

"That can't possibly be my father," Shiro whispered through clenched teeth. "My father is nothing like that!"

"I was one of your father's opponents during the Fourth War, and I made it rather clear to you that I knew his _modus operandi_ ," Lord El-Melloi II answered.

"He won't casually sacrifice an entire city just because of the Grail!" Shiro stressed.

"This isn't the time to be arguing about this, Shiro!" Rin demanded. "We still have plenty to deal with at this point!"

"Miss Gorilla is right, unfortunately," Luvia added. "There is the problem of Caster's activities, which have been tied to the disappearance of several men in the past few hours, then there is the vampire problem, and there is Matou Zouken."

"Fine," Shiro relented. "Lord El-Melloi II, we'll entrust Sakura to you, then."

"Let's go back to the cave and allow me some time to set up a Bounded Field first," Lord El-Melloi II answered. "From there, we can then work on our next move."

* * *

"Well, this is certainly a surprise, Caster," Mikhel said, rubbing his chin.

"Indeed it is, Master."

"So this was your plan?"

Caster smiled as she walked up toward Mikhel, caressing his cheek when she was within reach. "Truth be told, Master, this was an unexpected development in my plans, but it turned out to be far better than my original plan," Caster cooed, turning around swiftly and confidently to face Viola. "Thanks to Berserker and her Master, our fighting forces have improved rather significantly."

"How sure are you that Berserker and her Master will comply to our commands?" Mikhel asked, his curiosity piqued.

"I placed a mental block on her to prevent her from speaking or even thinking anything right now. She is as good as a wild dog right now, but we do need to tame and train her so that she will comply to us."

"Okay," Mikhel answered at length. "How do we go about doing this?"

"Well, there are many, many ways in which we can do this, but nothing works quite like my very own way of turning a person," Caster whispered seductively as she walked up to Viola, planting her lips on Viola's lips.

"Wha- wha- what are you doing!?" Mikhel stammered. He could definitely feel his blood flushing his face as he beheld the sight.

"... I'm trying to turn her to our side, obviously," Caster replied after her lengthy liplock with Viola. "Even if she is a magus, she cannot possibly hold out against my ability for long."

"I.. I know… but…"

"Relax, Master," Caster whispered. Turning to face Viola again, Caster caressed her cheeks. "Now, Master of Berserker.. It seems that you can be quite the stubborn one, aren't you now?"

Viola began trembling in reply as she tried to avoid eye contact with Caster.

"You do know that there is nothing that you can do to get away from me, now that you have no means to call upon your Servant. Since you're as good as ours now, there is no better choice for you than to join us, no?

Viola shook her head as vigorously as she could while under the influence of Caster's entrapment.

"Oh my, you still plan to resist till the very end now, do you?" Caster cooed. "You know, the spell which I just cast on you will eventually break your resistance. It so happens that we have plenty of time to spare so that the spell takes its effect. Until then, there is much that we can do to pass the time."

Flicking her finger, Caster summoned her tentacles to pick Viola up. "Well then, shall we begin in my Master's chambers?"

"Wh-wh-what exactly are we doing in there?" Mikhel stammered again.

"Fu fu fu… Oh come now, Master.." Caster giggled. "There is no need to ask, because the both of us will be working together to break her will. And _you_ are the perfect choice to do just that."

"Break her will? How?" Mikhel asked, scratching his head.

"Oh, something that you are very, very good at," Caster replied in a slow manner.

* * *

"Master, based on the information that we got from the kid, my _onii-sama_ was last seen here, along with her Master," Archer stated as he set Luvia down on the ground.

"I see some blood stains here," Luvia remarked. "Miss Gorilla told me that she treated Konig-san's injuries, but there's something odd about the way the blood is staining the area."

"Could they have been attacked after they were left here?" Archer wondered.

"You have a point, Archer," Luvia replied. "There is a way to find out."

"Oh? You have a way?"

Luvia whipped out a blueish tinted jewel and clenched it in her fist. Closing her eyes, she began reciting an incantation, releasing a burst of prana in the process.

" _Sammeln, flicken und zu verteilen. Alle Ereignisse in der Zeit aufgedeckt!_ "

As Luvia finished her incantation, she opened her fist, allowing the jewel to disintegrate and disperse. The jewel shards emitted a glaucous glow which illuminated the entire area in a dazzling light show which would have been deemed as an attraction in a fair or a theme park, but for all its intents and purposes, Luvia's incantation allowed for her and Archer to determine a very important factor in their search for the truth behind the way the blood stains were found here.

"Look, Archer. My suspicions have been all but confirmed."

Archer squinted. "My apologies, Master, but what am I looking for?"

"Can you note any difference in the bloodstains right now, under my light incantation?"

Archer took a minute to walk around and observe the blood stains. Before long, he looked towards Luvia. "I can see that some of the blood stains glow differently from the others, but the texture of the blood stains remain the same when lit by your incantation."

"Very good, Archer," Luvia smiled. "As expected of someone keen of eye as you."

"Oh? Is that a compliment I hear coming from you?" Archer smirked.

"Who knows?" Luvia shrugged playfully. "However…"

Luvia's brief show of playfulness disappeared all of a sudden as she observed the blood stains.

"The similar texture of blood means one thing: all the blood here belongs to one person. Meanwhile, the other clue we see here is that the blood glows differently under the light."

"I can only think of one outcome of this observation," Archer remarked. "This person bled at different points in time."

"Two for two," Luvia replied coldly. "Now, with the information that Miss Gorilla provided us, I know for sure that the person bleeding here is, without question, Viola Dajana Konig."

"So you're trying to say that _onii-sama's_ Master was attacked shortly after receiving treatment from Saber's Master?" Archer ventured.

"It's highly possible."

"She isn't anywhere right now, that's what I can say with the limited coverage I have with my eyes," Archer continued. "Is there a way we can track the blood stains?"

"I wish I could, but we have a problem," Luvia sighed.

"What's that?"

"The fresher blood stains don't seem to form a trail," Luvia answered Archer. "It's almost as if she was wounded immediately and had her wound closed up for whatever reason or intent."

"That's… That doesn't make sense," Archer replied, thumping his head softly with his fist.

"Indeed it does," Luvia concurred, rubbing her chin. "Between Matou Zouken and Caster, who would be the more likely assailant?"

"I imagine it would be Caster, considering that she went rogue?" Archer wondered.

"But Caster is behind the disappearance of the men in this city," Luvia replied.

"If you ask me, the Zouken guy is more interested in survival now that Assassin is completely killed, no?"

"His damn vampires is doing just that for him; keeping him alive!" Luvia grunted, pacing about as she tried to figure all the possibilities out.

"If anything, the vampires brought more attention to him and his life is in greater threat now, don't you think?"

"Wait, that's right!" Luvia exclaimed suddenly, causing Archer to straighten up in shock. "You are right, it _could_ be Caster! What if Caster was out looking for more men to devour, but somehow stumbled upon an injured Konig-san, and attacked her?"

"Well, that's what I was saying, but even I don't see why Caster should close up the wounds she inflicted on _onii-sama's_ Master."

"Could Caster have captured her, then?"

Archer pondered for a moment. "That's not beyond the realm of possibilities."

"So now, we need to locate-"

Luvia was not able to complete her sentence when Archer grabbed her without warning and rolled out of the way of a figure that leapt towards her.

"Wha- what was that?" Luvia stammered.

I don't know.. a Servant? But it cannot be.. there is hardly any prana coming from it!"

"Well dodged, and well played," Bree commented. Her stone golem stood up again after missing the opportunity to attack Luvia.

"Why are you here?" Archer demanded. "I was told that we had a non-aggression pact in place right now."

"Oh, to hell with that!" Bram exclaimed as he alighted from Rider's horse. "The Association has forsaken the Grail, so the pact is now of no use!"

"Hey now, we had no such news of that," Archer replied, holding his hands up. "We are here to find my _onii-sama_ and his Master, who was last seen here before she was attacked."

"Attacked?" Bree exclaimed. "You lie!"

"Say all you want, but we are honouring our non-aggression pact, while you are finding every reason not to do so," Luvia chided. "Besides, if we were the ones who attacked Konig-san, why should we bother about healing her and then attacking again?"

"mac Branain, let's not waste our time listening to this rabble. Let's press our advantage and attack!"

"Listen to us! Konig-san was ambushed by Caster and she is probably Caster's captive as we speak!"

"What did you say?" Bree asked. "Caster did?"

"Don't you try to stall for time, Edelfelt!" Bram demanded.

"Hey now, Master of Rider," Archer replied. "I understand that you happen to be my Master's teacher… or something like that, just like who Lancer's Master is to you, as well as my _onii-sama's_ Master. Don't you think that your conduct is unbecoming as a teacher toward your students?"

"I don't need an enemy Servant to be telling me what to do!" Bram growled.

Archer sighed. "Hey, we might have to fight them," he told Luvia telepathically.

"I hear you. Take the initiative if you see hostility from them."

"H-hey, Sir Bram!" Bree suddenly pleaded. "We really need to look into this, the whole thing about Caster abducting Viola!"

"Pay no heed to what they are saying! It's all a ploy to distract us!" Bram seethed. "Rider! If Bree isn't going to attack Archer or his Master, we will!"

"... Perhaps not," Rider replied after a brief pause.

"What!?"

"I have a bone to pick with that accursed woman," Rider continued. "If there is anyone that I wish to destroy right now, it is that woman, for all of her conniving and scheming!"

"We can take care of that later!" Bram shot back. "We have an enemy standing before us!"

"Not my enemy," Rider scowled as he replied. "Yours."

"Rider!"

"Silence, boy!" Rider bellowed in admonishment. Turning toward Luvia and Archer, Rider shot a glare toward them. "If the information you gave us is false, I will cut you both down."

"That won't be a problem, because we are coming with you." Archer replied nonchalantly.

"What the hell!?" Luvia exclaimed.

"I have an _onii-sama_ to save, so our interests are aligned, although just momentarily."

"You mean to put our lives in danger just because of your _onii-sama_?" Luvia demanded.

"Relax, I will protect you if these fellas try to attack you," Archer reassured.

"S-shut up," Luvia grumbled, looking away. "I don't need your protection."

"Fine then," Rider acknowledged. "Makes it all the more easier to come after you if you are wrong and that my Master was correct."


	23. Act 4: Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Are you sure you can handle any intruders if they get past your Bounded Field?" Shiro asked as he watched Saber lower Sakura gently to the ground.

"The Bounded Field can keep intruders out for a moment, whilst alerting all of you at the same time, so that you can return here quickly," Lord El-Melloi II replied as he went about setting the Bounded Field up. "Edelfelt and Archer has already gone in search of Matou Zouken by searching for the last person to have seen him, and you are going to help with eliminating the vampire infestation, since you and Tohsaka have had experience in dealing with them."

"What about the Greater Grail?" Rin questioned.

"I just need to determine its exact location within this cave so I can work out what to do with it," Lord El-Melloi II mumbled in reply. It was apparent now that he was trying to work something in his head, and that he was not really in the mood or convenience to be answering any questions. Shiro and Rin took it as their cue to head out and begin their work of culling the vampires.

As the couple walked out of the cave, with Saber following close behind, Shiro was already working out his plan.

"I will have to return to my usual vantage point at the Centre Building and provide cover from there. You and Saber should get yourselves where you can help the most, and do whatever you need to do."

"I thought the Center Building was reported to also be the center of the infestation?" Rin asked.

"Then, that works even better for us. We can wipe out those vampires from within their stronghold."

"Are you sure we can handle this? We had Ciel with us the last time we had to cull a horde of vampires," Rin wondered.

"We have Saber now," Shiro replied with a smile.

"Fair enough," Rin grinned in reply.

"Anyhow, please be careful out there, okay?" Shiro asked as he started his motorcycle.

"Of course I will. I'm the daughter of a great magus, after all," Rin replied with a little laugh as she got behind Shiro on the motorcycle and held on tightly to him.

* * *

"Seriously, why are we following a bunch of people who would kill us both, if given the chance?" Luvia demanded.

"I did say that I would protect you if that happened, no?" Archer shrugged simply as he replied nonchalantly.

"That's not the point of it!" Luvia growled.

"We have to find my onii-sama's Master because we need that piece of information, right?"

"But-"

"Would the two of you just shut up?" Bram barked. "It's bad enough that I am allowing you two to go with me when I should just kill you!"

"Well then, if you would please proceed," Archer taunted, casting a mischievous glance at Bram.

"Why, you little-"

"You're just playing into Archer's hands, boy," Rider chided. "Right now, there is a treaty in place, whether you like it or not."

"To hell with that treaty you speak of!" Bram grumbled.

"The reward for killing Caster should be beneficial for you, don't you think?" Rider asked. "An extra Command Seal, which will cement your ability to command me to 'perform extraordinary feats'?"

"What's the point of that, when this War is not even in a functional state right now?"

"You still wish to carry on with this War, remember that."

"In that case, the ceasefire order has no place!" Bram demanded.

"The ceasefire is in place as part of the rules of this War, boy," Rider replied coolly. "One cannot disregard one rule when it means you forfeit everything else,"

"Irregardless-"

"Why don't _you_ just shut up!?" Luvia barked this time. "You're annoying as hell!"

Archer silently raised his hand to cover his mouth, while Bree stared in amazement at Luvia.

"What kind of bollocks are you trying to pull off here?" Bram replied angrily.

"You know, the way you behave outside of the Clock Tower, I won't be surprised that your popularity amongst the students would suffer should word of your childish behaviour emerge!"

Bram was furious at this point, but Rider simply stopped him from acting on his anger. "Just stay out of their provocations until we honor the ceasefire" was what Bram was told, but in all honesty, he was at his wits end. He was already in a desperate situation when he was told by Bartomeloi Lorelai that the Association gave up their pursuit of the Grail. For an accomplished magus such as himself, he saw this entire struggle as a failure; a futile effort at best. He still wanted to bring the Grail back to the Association regardless of the Association's own desires. That way, he reasoned, he would have gained himself enough favour with the higher ups to position himself for a more prominent role within the Association.

"… this place?"

"What?" Bram mumbled, as he snapped out of his thoughts.

"I said, how did you know that Caster was holed up in this place?" Luvia growled.

"I spent most of the time scouring the city for any signs of Caster," Rider replied simply. "Never found her."

"So, why here?" Archer queried.

"The boy found that there was a Bounded Field inside this forest, which was reinforced by another Bounded Field."

"This old forest used to be Einzbern property, so I assume one of the Bounded Fields belongs to the Einzberns, but Caster definitely would have reinforced it."

"Einzbern?" Bram blurted. "They are not even participants in this War."

"Don't ask me anything, I don't know of their whereabouts," Luvia shrugged. "Irregardless, I won't be considered too paranoid if I assumed that the Einzberns are in there for some reason or another, and gave refuge to Caster."

"Impossible," Bram replied. "The Association received word that the Einzbern Castle was abandoned shortly after the Fifth War."

"That's just my thinking," Luvia replied, flicking her hair with her hand. "You don't have to share my opinion anyway."

"Quit your yammering and let's charge inside now," Rider remarked sharply.

"Wait, why is there a small army stationed around the castle?" Archer asked, pointing at the men surrounding the castle.

"That must be the men Caster seduced," Luvia sighed. "We have to fight our way through all of them."

"Those small fry are nothing to my Noble Phantasm," Rider scoffed. "Let's charge in."

"These men are innocent," Luvia urged. "We don't have to kill them!"

"I'm not risking a counterattack if you leave them be," Rider replied sharply. Getting up, he whistled for his horse, but Bree had already sprung into action.

Summoning forth her stone golems, she gave the order for them to charge forward and engage the men that was standing guard outside.

"I'll keep them occupied. Rider, you can just ignore those men!"

"Don't kill those men!" Luvia demanded.

"For once, I share your opinion," Bree replied. Turning to Rider, she nodded at him, signalling to Rider that he would be able to enter without having to engage the men outside.

Rider got up and strode quickly towards the entrance, and stopped short at the entrance. Staring straight at the door, he brandished his sword.

"I know you have someone waiting just behind the door, woman! Bring him out now!"

Without much of a delay, the door was suddenly smashed off its hinges, breaking into splinters that flew towards Rider. Instinctively, Rider swung his sword at the splinters that were directed at him and managed to beat them away. The figure behind the door walked out much to the surprise of everyone.

"What!?" Rider grunted in disbelief.

"This is impossible!" Bram exclaimed.

"No… how did my _onii-sama_ join with Caster?" Archer questioned. "What did she do to him!?"

* * *

"Hey Shiro, are we really going to be able to do this?" Rin asked as she beheld the sight upon their arrival at the Center Tower.

"We don't really have much of a choice," Shiro replied. "Ciel and the members of the Church are working to ensure that Zouken's… things do not spread beyond the area that has been affected. Bartomeloi Lorelai is here with her Brigade, and I'm sure she could use our assistance."

"We should quickly get on it then," Saber urged, tightening her grip on her sword.

"Let's go, then," Shiro replied, as he traced Kansho and Bakuya.

Saber wasted no time and charged into the building, cutting every one of Zouken's vampires that stood in her way. Shiro and Rin took the opportunity of the path cut open by Saber to rush in as well. Before long, they were inside the building, surrounded in all directions by Zouken's vampires.

For Shiro and Rin, thanks to their years of traveling together prior to the birth of their children, were able to work seamlessly together. Shiro, who was very much the heavy hitter of the pair, engaged the vampires regardless of whether they were close by or further away from the pair. Shiro's swords were continuously traced and launched at the vampires, which kept them at bay, while Shiro's use of Kansho and Bakuya made short work of the vampires that managed to close in on them. Rin, who was not any less skilled in battle as Shiro, took on the role of supporting Shiro by using her Gandr shots as well as sporadic the use of her jewel magic to control the movement of the vampires and make Shiro's job of killing the vampires easier.

Saber, who was protecting Shiro and Rin's back, was able to witness the pair's fight out of the corner of her eye. For Saber, she was very much amazed at how much the couple have progressed, especially with Shiro. Saber could still vividly remember the many hours spent teaching him how to use a sword some twenty years ago. The time she spent training with Shiro after being summoned a third time to the Grail War only gave her a clue as to how far he had come after twenty years. Tonight, seeing the fruits of her labour, gave her much satisfaction and pride. Nevertheless, she did not have time to savour the fruits of her labour, because she had to cut down large swathes of vampires that were coming at her.

"Rin, Shiro, I'm going to cut a path upwards. We need to have the advantage of standing on higher ground!"

"Right!" Shiro replied.

"There might be allies of our own on the roof or at the upper levels of the building!" Rin reminded. "We should check on where they are first!"

"We don't have time to go up there to check!" Shiro responded.

"I don't have to go up there to check," Rin smiled. "Protect me, Shiro!"

"Whatever you plan to do, make it quick!"

Instead of responding to Shiro, Rin quickly closed her eyes and swallowed a gem, reciting her incantation as she channeled her prana.

" _Offener Weg nach Sybil. Grant Hellsehen!"_

The moment Rin opened her eyes after her incantation, Shiro and Saber found that Rin's eyes were glowing white with a hint of purple. Rin immediately looked upwards, staring in that direction as if she is scanning for something.

"Bartomeloi Lorelai is up on the higher floors with her Brigade, but they should be safe from the blast if you aimed at this direction!" Rin finally said, pointing towards the eastern wall.

Wasting no time, Saber dispelled her Invisible Air: Barrier of the Wind King, and aimed Excalibur upwards at the direction that Rin was pointing towards.

"Don't put too much power into your blast," Shiro reminded. "We don't want to bring the entire building down!"

"Hurry up, Saber!" Rin urged. "We can reduce their numbers if you fire it now!"

Saber nodded quickly and looked upwards again.

"Ex-!"

Saber's sword began to emit a brilliant glow, its golden light bathing the entire hall that they were standing in. The vampires that were around them began to recoil and back away from the brilliant light.

"-calibur!"

A shaft of golden light erupted from the tip of Excalibur as Saber released the beam of holy energy, directing it at the ceiling. The resulting blast blew the entire ceiling upwards, taking a host of vampires with them. The vampires that was directly in the path of Excalibur were less fortunate, as they disintegrated in the beam fired by Saber. For a brief moment after Saber fired a shot with Excalibur, there was a silence in the building and the night sky could be seen from the hole blasted in the roof.

The brief silence was quickly punctuated by a very irritated voice coming from somewhere above Shiro, Rin, and Saber.

"Who is that insolent buffoon who blasted a bloody hole just before us all of a sudden!?"

"Saber, please take us up there?" Rin casually asked, cracking a slight smile.

Shiro sighed as he came closer. "She's going to tear us a new one when we get up there,"

"It's fine, it's fine," Rin replied. "I'm sure Bartomeloi Lorelai would understand."

Without wasting any time, Saber held Shiro and Rin, leaping up just before a new wave of vampires approached them.

"Well, if it isn't the two of you," Bartomeloi Lorelai exclaimed when she saw them. "Your haphazard actions down there nearly killed us!"

"Lady Lorelai, I made sure that Saber did not hit you earlier by using my clairvoyance to observe what was happening above us," Rin replied, bowing slightly.

"Hmph, your insolence would have cost you if this wasn't a battlefield," Lorelai huffed. "Pray, tell me why are you here? You of all people, along with your… husband, should know better that I do not appreciate any help you supposedly offer to my Chelon Chanticle Brigade or myself."

"With all due respect, I cannot stand for Matou Zouken's actions. That's what drove me to come here," Shiro answered. "I would like to quickly deal with this so that I can locate Matou Zouken and ensure that he be brought to justice!"

Lorelai said nothing for a moment, but took that time to shift her weight from one foot to another, sighing as she did so. "Emiya Shiro…" Lorelai finally said. "Feel free to do whatever you wish to do against Matou Zouken, but the vampires will be mine to deal with."

"There's quite a number of vampires to deal with, right?" Shiro questioned. "The last time I heard, there were 50,000 vampires, no?"

Lorelai's eyes flashed with annoyance. "Between my Brigade, as well as the members of the Church, _and_ the Association, we have contained the spread of the infestation, and worked our way inwards. The vampires in this tower is all that's left of them. Surely it comes as a surprise to you, but did you not realise that you did not have to deal with any vampires on your way here?"

Shiro sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, I didn't realise that."

"Like I said, do whatever you wish about Matou Zouken… but leave me to deal with the vampires here," Lorelai huffed as she turned away to rejoin her Brigade.

"W-wait!" Shiro stammered all of a sudden.

Lorelai stopped and silently turned her head just enough to cast a sideways glance at Shiro.

"Did you happen to see Shinji?"

"... Shinji? Matou Zouken's descendant?"

"Grandson… Or whatever his relationship is with Zouken."

Lorelai hung her head momentarily before straightening up again. "I have indeed seen him among the vampires. Unfortunately, he was never alive to begin with, and I have disposed of him."

Shiro sighed. "There was really no way to just remove the worms from him?"

"Don't be daft," Lorelai retorted. "He was already dead when Matou Zouken had him infested with the Crest Worms. Rendering the host unsuitable for the Worms is the only way to stop these vampires."

"Shiro, there is really nothing that can be done for Shinji," Rin urged.

"I… I know," Shiro stammered.

"Now that you have the information you seek, do yourself a favour and begone," Lorelai said, waving her hand dismissively.

Shiro shrugged as he walked away with Rin and Saber. "I did not even find any information about Zouken. How are we supposed to find him?"

Rin did not get to answer the question as Lorelai flew past the trio and into the wall with a loud crash.

"Wha-?" Rin exclaimed, turning around to see who attacked Lorelai.

Shiro was also quick to turn around, tracing Kansho and Bakuya the instant he saw Lorelai's attacker.

Standing before them, with the Chelon Chanticle Brigade members lying injured in a groaning heap, was Matou Zouken.

"My stupid grandson… disposed of, you say?" Zouken growled.

Shiro leapt forward in a flash, swinging his blades at Zouken, who did not flinch as Shiro cut into him. Shiro was unable to harm Zouken, however, as the cuts inflicted on Zouken were quickly mended by his Crest Worms.

"Such gusto, boy!" Zouken remarked.

"Such an abomination!" Shiro raged, as Saber came to his aid. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to cut Matou Zouken down.

"Oh, the futility," Zouken sighed, as he released his Crest Worms, which quickly changed into Blade Winged Worms. These creatures immediately attacked Shiro, who had to retreat due to his inability to cut down the swarm that attacked him all at once. Saber quickly utilised her Strike Air ability to wipe out the entire swarm that attacked them.

"Shiro! We have to use fire against the Crest Worms!" Rin shouted as she dragged Lorelai to safety.

"Fire…" Shiro muttered. Of all the weapons in his arsenal, he only had one weapon that was able to burn whatever it cut, but after his first experience wielding it, he never used that weapon at all.

"Trace, on!"

A stinging sensation began surging through Shiro's body when the black bladed sword materialised. Shiro winced when he grabbed the sword's hilt, and quickly took aim at Zouken.

"Saber! You will need to do something to finish Zouken off! I cannot swing this sword more than once!" Shiro urged. The black bladed sword began to burst into flames which also singed Shiro's hands.

"Burn the unworthy, Dyrnwyn!" Shiro shouted, as he charged at Matou Zouken, who started releasing his swarms at Shiro in a panic, understandably terrified of the flames that leapt from the sword.

Shiro used Dyrnwyn's flames to protect himself against Zouken's attack, closing in quickly on the old magus, who had little left to use in defence. Taking advantage of that, Shiro swung Dyrnwyn down onto Matou Zouken, cutting him down and setting him ablaze. Almost immediately, Dyrnwyn shattered as Shiro released his hands from the hilt of the sword.

"Shiro! Get out of the way!" Saber ordered, readying Excalibur for an attack. Shiro instinctively rolled out of the way as Saber charged forward, cutting Matou Zouken again.

Matou Zouken screamed in pain as the combination of the fiery sword and the holy sword's attacks rendered his remaining Crest Worms unable to disperse or to mend his injuries.

"We must finish him off!" Rin shouted as she ran towards Matou Zouken with her jewels in hand. In one quick movement, she threw the jewels at Matou Zouken, which then ignited upon contact. Thus, Matou Zouken was reduced to a burning pile of Crest Worms, unable to inhabit a new host or to escape.

"Is that the end of Matou Zouken?" Shiro wondered aloud.

"I am hoping that it is," Rin replied. "However, his existence could still be a problem given that the vampires are still around and theoretically, he will still be around as long as there is even a single Crest Worm."

"Then, it must be nigh impossible to defeat him," Saber remarked.

"Perhaps, this will force him to go dormant for a while," Rin answered. We won't be able to do anything for now and perhaps let the Association deal with him."

"What about Lorelai and her brigade?" Shiro asked.

"Lorelai is unconscious, but she is okay," Rin replied. "Some of her brigade members have been killed by Matou Zouken, but the rest of them just needs some attending to. Well, the vampires are all but gone now, since Matou Zouken must have absorbed all of them earlier for him to appear like that."

Shiro sighed. "Right, so this means that-"

"- the threat of Matou Zouken and the vampires is dealt with." Ciel interrupted, as she approached the three from behind them.

"You're late," Shiro muttered, cracking a smile.

"I was elsewhere, you know," Ciel remarked, setting her weapon down and leaning on it. "That overcoat really suits you."

"You don't say," Rin answered. "So, what of the Association and the Church? The threat has been dealt with."

Ciel shrugged. "The Church has already begun the cleanup operation and is getting the 'news' out to the rest of the world, that there was a major gas explosion in this building, which coincided with an outbreak of a very dangerous new strain of rabies."

"Won't that cause panic around the world?" Shiro muttered.

"This entire city has been deemed an exclusion zone now thanks to this 'outbreak', and the military has set up checkpoints on all exit points of this city to screen all its inhabitants for any trace of the 'disease'. Of course, all of that is just to put on a show for the rest of the world, but we are evacuating all of the remaining survivors here."

"I see, all in accordance to Lord El-Melloi II's report to the Mediator, I assume?" Rin asked.

Ciel nodded her head. "As unfortunate as it is, Matou Zouken's rampage with his vampires was a stroke of luck, since we needed some sort of excuse to evacuate this city."

"I don't see it that way, though," Saber grumbled, tightening her fist. "No matter what, such despicable acts cannot be condoned, even if it benefits us!"

"It is what it is," Ciel shrugged. "Take your complaints to the Association and to the Church, not to me."

Saber loosed her fist, relenting to Ciel's remarks while Shiro let out an audible sigh as he knew that neither he nor Saber shouldn't be taking out his gripes onto Ciel or to anyone else for this matter.

"Anyhow, I shall be on my way. I'll be in Fuyuki for quite a while, so if you're going to have a curry feast, you should do that while I'm still here," Ciel reminded Shiro, lifting her weapon up in preparation to leave.

"With everyone evacuating from the city, just where are we going to get the ingredients for that?" Shiro asked, having lightened up from Ciel's request.

"I don't care how you do it, but I really am expecting a curry feast!" Ciel answered as she left to the amusement of Shiro.

"Hey Shiro, did you hear that just now?" Rin asked, as Shiro turned around to face her.

"I probably did as I was talking to Ciel, but I was not paying attention," Shiro replied. "What is it?"

"Luvia and Archer is in trouble."


End file.
